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APR  1H910 

^'y^'ys        * — T**"*""A  v-  j 


THE 

GOSPEL  OF  MATTHEW 


AN    EXPOSITION 


V       BY 
A.  C.  GAEBELEIN 

Editor  of  "  Our  /fopr  '* 


-  VOLUME  II. 


OUR    HOPE    PUBLICATION    OFFICE 

80  Second  Street 

New     York     City 

PICKERING  &  IXGUS  I,.  S.  HAYNES 

Glasgow.  Scotland  502  Yonge  St.,  Toronto,  Can. 


Copyright  1910  by  A.  C.  Gaebelein 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  fourteenth  chapter  contains  the  record  of  events 
put  together  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  purpose  of  this 
Gospel.  The  Lord  had  revealed  the  mysteries  of  the  king- 
dom of  the  heavens,  mysteries,  as  we  have  seen,  repeated 
by  the  Lord  in  His  seven  messages  to  the  churches  in 
Revelation  ii  and  iii.  At  the  end  of  the  previous  chapter 
we  learned  once  more  of  His  rejection.  "They  were  of- 
fended at  Him."  In  the  chapter  before  us  He  appears  as 
the  rejected  One.  The  right  key  to  understand  the  events 
described  here,  is  to  look  upon  all  dispensationally.  We 
have  in  them  a  description  of  what  takes  place  while  the 
King  is  absent  and  rejected  by  His  own  people.  At  the 
end  of  this  chapter  He  comes  in  the  fourth  watch,  and 
with  His  coming  brings  the  calm  for  the  troubled  sea  and 
His  troubled  disciples. 

The  first  incident  we  find  is  the  martrydom  of  John  the 
Baptist.  Herod  stands  with  his  kingdom  and  abomina- 
tion for  the  world,  the  prince  of  this  age,  and  his  persecu- 
tions. The  record  is  put  in  here  to  show  that  during  the 
absence  of  the  King,  the  world  will  hate  and  persecute 
those  who  are  of  the  Truth,  but  it  carries  us  on  to  the  end 
likewise,  when  a  false  king  will  rule  once  more — the  Anti- 
christ; typified  by  Herod. 

The  second  incident  is  the  miraculous  feeding  of  the  five 
thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children.  He  had  gone 
to  a  desert  place,  but  the  crowds  followed  Him,  and  He 
supplies  their  need  in  His  own  miraculous  way.  The  keep- 
ing of  His  people  is  here  demonstrated,  while,  on  the  other 


hand,  we  find  spiritual  lessons,  which  lead  us  deeper,  es- 
pecially if  we  compare  this  section  with  the  record  in  the 
Gospel  of  John. 

The  third  incident  is  the  storm  on  the  sea,  lasting  a 
whole  night,  during  which  the  Lord  is  absent.  He  went 
into  the  mountain  apart  to  pray,  which  is  a  picture  of  His 
presence  with  the  Father  during  this  age.  This  section  is 
especially  rich  in  dispensational  lessons.  We  learn  from 
this  short  outline  of  the  fourteenth  chapter,  that  it  forms 
a  kind  of  birdseye  view  of  the  age,  which  follows  the  rejec- 
tion of  our  Lord. 

"At  that  time  Herod,  the  tetrarch,  heard  of  the  fame  of 
Jesus,  and  said  to  his  servants,  This  is  John  the  Baptist, 
he  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  because  of  this,  these  works 
of  power  display  their  force  in  him"  (verses  i,  2). 

The  Herod  mentioned  here  is  not  the  Herod  in  the 
second  chapter  of  the  Gospel.  The  Herod  under  which  the 
children  of  Bethlehem  were  slain  was  Herod  the  Great, 
an  Idumean  who  had  been  proclaimed  king  of  the  Jews  by 
Rome  and  exercised  his  evil  reign  under  the  protection  of 
Rome.  After  his  death  Archelaus  became  tetrarch  of  Judea, 
Samaria  and  Idumea,  Philip  of  Trachonitis  and  Herod 
Antipas  of  Galilee  and  Peraea,  who  also  had  the  title  of 
tetrarch.  It  is  this  Herod  who  is  before  us  in  this  chapter 
He  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  King  Aretas  of  Arabia. 
He  lived,  however,  in  open  adultery  with  Herodias,  the  wife 
of  his  brother  Philip.  Like  his  father,  Herod  the  Great, 
he  was  a  wicked  man,  the  murderer  of  John  the  Baptist. 
He  was  followed  by  Herod  Agrippa,  under  whose  regime 
the  persecution  of  the  Christians  broke  out  in  Jerusalem. 

The  dreadful  end  of  this  wicked  king  is  described  in 
Acts  xii.  He  was  smitten  by  an  angel  of  God  and  eaten 
by  worms.  His  son,  named  likewise  Herod  Agrippa,  took 
his  place. 


These  Herods — who  ruled  under  Rome  over  Immanuers 
land  and  were  such  bloody  men,  false  kings  upon  a  throne, 
which  was  not  theirs — are  all  types  of  Antichrist,  that  false 
king,  who  comes  in  his  own  name  and  will  be  received  by 
the  Jews. 

During  this  entire  age  "the  mystery  of  iniquity  already 
works,"  and  in  the  end  of  it  that  wicked  one  will  be  re- 
vealed. Satan  rules  over  the  world  now,  and  by  and  by, 
his  power  will  have  full  sway  for  a  little  while,  and  then 
through  the  revived  Roman  Empire,  the  beast  out  of  the 
sea,  a  false  king,  the  great  final  Herod,  will  rule  and  reign, 
as  well  as  the  beast  out  of  the  earth. 

These  dispensation^,  facts  make  it  clear  why  the  story  of 
John's  martrydom  is  introduced  now  in  this  Gospel.  It  is 
brought  forth  here  to  show  that  alongside  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  heavens  in  its  mysteries,  there  is  the  kingdom  of  the 
world  culminating  in  a  wicked  leader,  the  man  of  sin  and 
son  of  perdition. 

The  incident  itself  comes  in  at  the  time  when  our  Lord 
sent  out  His  disciples.  In  the  fourth  chapter  we  heard 
that  John  was  delivered  up  (iv:i2).  In  the  eleventh  he 
sent  his  disciples  from  the  prison  to  the  Lord,  and  now 
his  fate  is  made  known  after  the  Lord  had  revealed  the 
secret  things. 

On  account  of  the  report  concerning  Jesus,  Herod  is 
troubled,  like  his  father  before  him  was  troubled,  when 
the  wise  men  from  the  east  came  to  Jerusalem.  Conscience 
speaks  with  a  loud  voice,  and  though  Herod  was  neither  a 
Pharisee  nor  a  Sadducee,  he  is  superstitious  and  looks  upon 
Jesus  as  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the  dead.  It  is  still 
so;  where  there  is  no  faith,  superstitions  hold  sway.  And 
why  was  he  troubled  and  uneasy?  Why  did  his  conscience 
speak?  "For  Herod  had  seized  John,  and  had  bound  him 
and  put  him  in  prison  on  account  of  Herodias,  the  wife  of 


8 

his  brother  Philip.  For  John  had  said  to  him,  It  is  not 
lawful  for  thee  to  have  her.  And  while  desiring  to  kill 
him,  he  feared  the  crowd,  because  they  held  him  for  a 
prophet.  But  when  Herod's  birthday  was  celebrated,  the 
daughter  of  Herodias  danced  before  them,  and  pleased 
Herod ;  whereupon  he  promised  with  oath  to  give  her  what- 
soever she  should  ask.  But  she,  being  set  on  by  her  mother, 
says,  Give  me  here  upon  a  dish  the  head  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist. And  the  king  was  grieved;  but  on  account  of  the 
oaths,  and  those  lying  at  table  with  him,  he  commanded  it 
to  be  given.  And  he  sent  and  beheaded  John  in  the  prison ; 
and  his  head  was  brought  upon  a  dish,  and  was  given  to 
the  damsel,  and  she  carried  it  to  her  mother.  And  his 
disciples  came  and  took  the  body  and  buried  it  and  came 
and  told  Jesus.  And  Jesus  having  heard  it,  went  away 
thence  by  ship  to  a  desert  place  apart"  (verses  3-13'). 

What  a  scene  of  wickedness  and  crime,  lust  and  blood4 
shed  is  here  revealed !  It  is  the  true  picture  of  the  world, 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  oi 
life.  And  this  world,  this  age  is  unchanged.  It  is  not 
improved  and  gradually  subdued.  This  evil  world  is  not 
getting  better.  It  is  not  giving  up  its  lust  and  pride,  its 
hatred  and  persecution  under  "the  civilizing  influence  of 
Christendom"  as  it  is  claimed.  The  things  manifested  here 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  they  transpired  at  the  merry  feast 
of  Herod  are  the  same  to-day.  The  hatred  of  the  Truth 
and  the  servant  of  the  Lord  is  the  same.  The  lust  of  the 
flesh  and  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of  life  have  not  changed  a 
particle.  All  is  present  with  all  its  disgusting  features  m 
the  midst  of  the  boasted  "civilizing  influences  of  Christen- 
dom." 

John  had  been  faithful  in  discharging  his  God-sriven 
ministry.  Openly  he  had  confronted  the  despot  with  his 
evil  doing  and  a  dungeon  becomes  his  lot.     How  often  it 


has  been  repeated  throughout  the  age.  How  many  faithful 
servants  have  been  hated  and  persecuted  thus.  The  world 
receives  not  the  truth,  but  hates  it.  Having  rejected  the 
Lord  and  hated  Him,  the  world  rejects  and  hates  Him  who 
is  of  the  truth.  How  sad  to  look  upon  that  which  pro- 
fesses to  be  the  church,  that  which  professes  to  be  Christian 
and  to  see  it  in  friendship  with  the  world !  At  last  pro- 
fessing and  apostate  Christendom  will  form  that  great 
world  centre,  and  centre  of  abomination  and  wickedness, 
"Babylon  the  Great,"  and  in  her  will  be  found  the  blood 
of  prophets  and  saints,  and  of  all  the  slain  upon  the  earth 
(Rev.  xviii:24). 

Oh,  let  us  herald  it  forth,  separation  from  the  world ! 
"Adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  friendship  with  the  world 
is  enmity  with  God?  Whoever,  therefore,  is  minded  to 
be  the  friend  of  the  world  is  the  constituted  enemy  of  God" 
(James  iv:4).  May  it  reach  our  conscience  that  we  may 
live  indeed  as  such  who  are  in  the  world  but  not  of  the 
world,  not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  our  mind.  Like  John  the  Baptist,  let  us  be 
faithful  in  our  testimony,  no  matter  what  the  consequences 
may  be. 

John  represents  here  also  him  who  is  one  of  the  two 
witnesses.  Elijah  will  come  once  more,  not  now,  but  at 
the  Jewish  end  of  the  age;  not  in  this  country,  but  in 
Israel's  land.  As  a  witness,  with  his  companion,  he  will 
witness  against  the  beast,  and  will  be  slain  by  it,  as  John 
was  slain  by  Herod. 

We  pass  over  the  details  of  that  libertine  feast,  the  dance, 
unquestionably  indecent,  the  beastly  mother,  with  her 
awful  request.  Of  Herod  we  read,  he  was  grieved  on  ac- 
count of  the  request.  He  feared  the  crowd  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  he  feared  those  who  lay  at  table 
with  him.     He  wanted  to  appear  religions.     If  he  made  an 


16 

oath  and  it  was  heard  by  those  with  him,  and  he  did  not 
keep  it,  they  would  surely  tell  it  abroad.  If  his  religious- 
ness led  him  to  commit  a  murder  it  is  a  small  matter. 
How  often  it  has  been  repeated !  Under  the  garb  of  relig- 
iousness crimes  upon  crimes  have  been  committed,  and  the 
end  is  not  yet. 

What  a  moment  it  must  have  been  when  the  messenger 
entered  the  dungeon  of  John  and  his  life  is  taken.  "And 
he  sent  and  beheaded  John  in  prison."  This  is  all  the  Spirit 
of  God  tells  us  of  it.  No  doubt  John  met  the  messenger  in 
the  triumph  of  faith. 

John's  disciples  came  and  took  the  headless  body  and 
buried  it  and  then  they  came  and  told  Jesus. 

There  they  found  the  comfort  and  the  hope  of  resurrec- 
tion and  life.  What  words  of  cheer  He  may  have  given 
to  them  we  do  not  read  here,  but  we  are  sure  they  came 
not  in  vain  to  Him.  And  shall  we  come  in  vain  to  Him 
with  our  cares  and  griefs,  trials  and  losses?  Go  and  tell 
Jesus  Christ  your  Lord ! 

Such  then  is  the  world  in  its  hatred  and  such  what  the 
servants  of  Christ  may  expect  from  the  world. 

Our  Lord  having  heard  the  report  went  away  to  a  desert 
place  apart.    He  knew  that  it  was  only  a  little  while  longer 
and  He  would  be  rejected,  condemned  and  crucified.     But 
His  time  had  not  yet  come.     He  would  not  hasten  matters, 
however,  even  if  then  Herod  would  have  attempted  to  do 
anything  to  him  he  would  have  not  succeeded.     How  the 
Spotless  and  Holy  One  must  have  felt  in  that  hour,  whei 
wickedness  had  reached  such  a  climax !     Yet  He  is  silent 
No  word  comes  from  His  lips.     No  word  of  disapproval 
no  word  of  judgment  or  wrath.    Thus  He  is  silent  through 
out  this  present  evil   age  until  that  day  comes,   His  own 
day,  when  He  will  keep  silent  no  longer. 

And  now  as  He  goes  away  by  ship  into  a  desert  place 


It 

apart,  truly  as  the  Rejected  One.  The  multitudes  hearing 
of  it  follow  Him  on  foot  from  the  cities.  They  seek  Him 
in  the  wilderness,  in  the  place  of  rejection.  In  the  Gospel 
of  John,  chapter  vi,  we  have  the  full  record  of  what  fol- 
lows and  likewise  the  condition  of  the  people.  Here  we 
have  only  a  brief  description.  "And  going  out  He  saw  a 
great  multitude,  and  was  moved  with  compassion  about 
them,  and  healed  their  infirm"  (verse  14).  A  few  words 
only,  but  how  His  grace  shines  in  them.  Though  He  knew 
their  hearts,  which  were  far  from  seeking  Him,  yet  was 
He  moved  with  compassion.  This  is  the  second  time  we 
read  of  His  compassion  for  the  people.  Not  alone  did  He 
pity  them  but  He  healed  their  infirm.  It  must  have  kept 
Him  busy  as  He  moved  among  them,  touching  the  sick 
and  healing  their  diseases.  "But  when  even  was  come,  His 
disciples  came  to  Him  saying:  The  place  is  desert  and 
much  of  the  daytime  already  gone  by ;  dismiss  the  crowds 
that  they  may  go  in  the  villages  and  buy  food  for  them- 
selves" (verse  15).  What  a  contrast  between  the  com- 
passionate Lord  ar.  i  His  disciples!  How  little  they  had 
learned  of  Him  and  of  His  gracious  ways.  Most  likely 
while  He  was  still  occupied  with  the  people  and  still  stretch- 
ing forth  His  hands  with  healing  power,  they  interrupted 
Him  in  His  blessed  work,  reminding  Him  of  the  physical 
needs  of  the  multitudes.  As  if  He  knew  not  Himself 
what  they  needed,  as  if  He  cared  not  for  them  and  their 
welfare !  It  was  unbelief  which  manifested  itself  thus. 
They  even  ask  the  Lord  to  dismiss  the  multitudes,  to  send 
them  away.  Heartless,  they  would  have  let  them  find  their 
way  back  to  their  villages  to  satisfy  their  wants.  Instead 
of  looking  to  the  Lord  they  looked  to  circumstances,  to  the 
numbers  of  the  people.  They  did  not  reckon  with  Him 
and  His  power,  who  fed  Israel  for  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness, who  sent   the   ravens  to   Elijah.     Such   is   unbelief. 


12 

How  calm  and  sublime  is  the  Lord's  answer.  No  word 
of  reproof  falls  from  His  blessed  lips.  "But  Jesus  said  to 
them,  They  have  no  need  to  go ;  give  ye  them  to  eat."  There 
was  surely  no  need  to  go  away  empty  from  Him,  no  need 
to  go  elsewhere  and  seek  what  He  so  plentifully  can  give 
and  does  give  to  all  who  trust  Him.  They  have  no  need 
to  go.  In  this  word  He  reveals  Himself  once  more  as 
the  omnipotent  Lord.  A  desert  place,  and  He  declares  a 
crowd  of  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children, 
have  no  need  to  go,  to  leave  Him,  to  find  bread  to  satisfy 
their  hunger.  But  still  more,  He  tells  His  disciples,  "give 
ye  them  to  eat."  This  they  could  not  understand.  They 
had  very  little  to  minister  to  the  great  needs  of  such  a 
company.  That  the  Lord  could  feed  them  they  had  not 
considered,  and  that  they,  in  giving  them  to  eat,  could 
count  on  His  power  to  minister  to  their  need  was  far  from 
their  thoughts.  Yet  this  is  the  lesson  which  the  Lord 
wanted  to  teach  them  and  us  likewise.  He  is  the  All- 
sufficient  One.  He  has  all  power,  and  there  is  no  need  for 
anyone  to  go  away  empty  from  Him.  He  wishes  to  minis- 
ter to  the  needs  of  His  people,  through  His  own.  "Give 
ye  them  to  eat"  is  still  His  loving  word,  and  He  backs  it 
up  with  all  His  grace  and  riches  in  glory.  AVe  mean,  of 
course,  all  this  of  a  ministry  in  spiritual  things. 

Let  us  think  of  this  as  we  minister  the  things  of  God, 
whether  it  be  the  Gospel  or  the  ministry  of  His  Word,  for 
the  edification  of  believers.  All  is  entrusted  to  us  by  the 
Head  of  the  Body.  He  Himself  will  minister  through  our 
ministry  if  the  heart  rests  believingly  in  Him  and  faith 
looks  away  from  circumstances  and  difficulties  to  a  rich  and 
gracious  Lord  in  Glory.  He  knows  the  needs  of  all.  He 
is  still  the  compassionate  One,  and  as  Lord  in  glory  tells 
His  servants :  "Give  ye  them  to  eat."  Oh  for  faith  to 
count  on  Him  and  His  gracious  power. 


13 

And  now  they  speak,  "But  they  say  to  Him,  We  have 
not  here  save  five  loaves  and  two  fishes"  (verse  17). 
From  the  Gospel  of  John  we  learn  that  the  Lord  said  to 
Philip,  "Whence  shall  we  buy  loaves  that  these  may  eat? 
But  this  He  said  trying  him,  for  He  knew  what  He  was 
going  to  do.  Philip  answered  Him,  Loaves  for  two  hun- 
dred denarii  are  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  each  may 
have  some  little  portion.  One  of  His  disciples,  Andrew, 
Simon  Peter's  brother,  says  to  Him,  There  is  a  little  boy 
here  who  has  five  barley  loaves  and  two  small  fishes ;  but 
this,  what  is  it  for  so  many?"  (John  VK5-9).  They  even 
had  not  the  small  supply  themselves,  but  it  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  little  boy.  How  suggestive !  It  was  little,  very 
little  they  possessed,  and  it  was  in  the  hands  of  a  little  boy, 
one  who  was  weak.  It  is  so  with  ourselves  and  the  little 
we  have.  Blessed  are  we  indeed  if  we  do  know  how  little 
it  is  which  is  in  our  hands  and  how  much  is  lacking.  But 
let  it  not  be  in  unbelief,  thinking  it  is  such  a  little  bit,  which 
cannot  be  used.  Nothing  is  too  small,  nothing  too  little, 
if  it  is  brought  to  Him ;  yea,  He  has  chosen  the  weak 
things.  "Bring  them  here  to  Me''  is  His  command.  Whit 
condescension,  He  does  not  despise  the  little  we  have,  He 
does  not  set  it  aside  in  manifesting  His  power.  How  easy 
it  would  have  been  for  Him  to  speak  only  a  word  in  that 
desert  place  and  bread  would  have  fallen  again  upon  the 
ground,  for  the  crowds  to  gather  and  take  with  them.  He 
wishes  to  use  the  little,  the  weak  things,  to  show  forth  His 
power.  It  is  the  way  He  works  throughout  this  age,  in 
which  He  is  the  Rejected  One. 

"Bring  them  here  to  Me,"  and  do  we  bring  what  we 
have  to  Him  always  ?  Is  ever}'  service  first  brought  to  Him 
for  blessing?  Is  the  little  put  into  His  hands  first  for 
blessing?  Are  all  our  undertakings  really  brought  to  Him; 
our  little,  our  all,  put  at  His  disposal?     If  we  bring  it  to 


14 

Him  He  will  bless  it  and  with  His  blessing  we  can  go  forth 
to  minister  to  others.  There  can  be  and  will  be  no  lack 
in  such  ministry  in  dependence  upon  Him. 

This  is  true  ministry.  How  far  Christendom  has  drifted 
away  from  it,  and  how  short  we  come  of  it,  with  our  un- 
believing hearts.  We  ever  reckon  with  circumstances  and 
difficulties  and  not  with  the  loving,  gracious  and  all  suffi- 
cient Lord  in  glory!  May  we  learn  and  profit  by  His 
Word. 

"And  having  commanded  the  multitudes  to  recline  upon 
the  grass,  having  taken  the  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  He 
looked  up  to  heaven  and  blessed ;  and  having  broken  the 
loaves  He  gave  them  to  the  disciples,  and  the  disciples  gave 
them  to  the  multitudes"  (verses  18,  19).  He  blessed  and 
broke  the  bread,  and  the  broken  bread  is  first  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  disciples,  and  after  they  received  they  gave  it 
to  the  people.  This  is  the  divine  order  of  ministry.  The 
little  handed  over  to  Him,  He  blesses  and  we  receive  first 
of  Him,  and  what  we  receive  from  His  hands  we  can  pass 
on  to  others.* 

What  a  scene  it  must  have  been !  Five  thousand  men 
besides  women  and  children  crowding  about  Him,  and  at 
His  loving  command  they  lay  down  upon  the  grass  and 
after  they  found  rest  He  feeds  them  with  His  bread.  In 
looking  upon  that  blessed  picture  we  think  of  Him  as 
Jchovah-Roi,  the  Lord,  my  Shepherd.  "The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in 
green  pastures."  It  is  fulfilled  here.  Jehovah,  the  Shep- 
herd, is  present  with  His  people.  Jehovah,  the  Shepherd, 
gives  them  rest  and  then  in  the  green  pastures  He  refreshes 


*In  the  Gospel  of  John  He  Himself  feeds  with  His  own  hands  the 
crowds.  The  ministry  of  the  disciples  is  not  mentioned  there,  be- 
cause in  John  He  is  described  as  the  Divine  One. 


15 

them.  Thus  He  acts  still.  Rest  and  food  in  Him  and 
through  Him  are  still  His  precious  gifts  to  all  who  put 
their  trust  in  Him.  He  Himself  is  our  Rest  and  our  Bread. 
He  satisfies  the  poor  with  bread.  It  is  prophetic.  He  will 
yet  be  the  great  Shepherd  of  Israel  and  gather  His  people, 
His  scattered  sheep,  and  supply  their  wants.  We  read  of  it 
in  that  restoration  Psalm,  the  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
second:  "For  the  Lord  hath  chosen  Zion;  He  hath  de- 
sired it  for  His  habitation.  This  is  my  rest  forever ;  here 
will  I  dwell ;  for  I  have  desired  it.  I  will  abundantly  bless 
her  provision ;  I  will  satisfy  her  poor  with  bread." 

"And  all  ate  and  were  filled,  and  they  took  up  what  was 
over  and  above  of  fragments  twelve  hand  baskets  full. 
But  those  that  had  eaten  were  about  five  thousand  men  be- 
sides women  and  children"  (verses  20-21).  Here  is  the 
miracle.  The  little  was  not  only  sufficient  for  all,  but 
more  was  left  over  at  the  end  than  they  had  in  the  begin- 
ning. His  blessing  was  not  only  upon  the  little  for  all, 
but  He  blessed  it  in  such  a  manner  that  from  it  came  an 
abundant  increase.  It  is  not  different  now  in  the  ministry 
of  spiritual  things.  The  more  we  give  out,  having  re- 
ceived from  Him,  the  greater  the  increase  and  possession 
for  us  in  the  end. 

In  the  Gospel  of  John  the  definite  teachings  of  our  Lord 
concerning  life  through  Him  and  in  Him  the  true  bread 
come  down  from  heaven,  and  the  sustenance  of  that  life, 
are  connected  with  this  episode.  John's  Gospel  is  the  place 
for  that.  In  the  feeding  of  the  people  as  recorded  in 
Matthew  and  the  applications  we  have  made  of  it,  we  have 
brought  out  the  character  of  the  age,  the  age  in  which 
Israel  has  rejected  her  King.  Let  us  notice  that  the  feed- 
ing of  the  multitude  closes  abruptly.  In  John  vi:i5  we 
read  they  would  make  Him  king.  But  the  attempt  was 
carnal.     No  faith  in  Him,  no  devotion  to  His  person  was 


i6 

behind  it,  and  the  Searcher  of  hearts  had  to  declare  unto 
them  when  the  crowds  sought  Him  again :  "Verily,  verily 
I  say  unto  you,  ye  seek  Me,  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles, 
but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled" 
(John  vi:2o).  In  Matthew's  Gospel  the  whole  scene  closes 
without  any  record  about  the  behaviour  of  the  multitudes. 
Significantly  we  read  at  once:  "And  immediately  He  com- 
pelled the  disciples  to  go  on  board  the  ship,  and  to  go 
before  Him  to  the  other  side  until  He  should  have  dis- 
missed the  multitudes.  And  having  dismissed  the  multi- 
tudes, He  went  up  into  the  mountain  apart  to  pray." 

Every  word  here  is  pregnant  with  meaning.  He  com- 
pelled the  disciples  to  go  on  board  ship.  A  change  is  to 
take  place  by  His  own  arrangement  and  the  people  are  dis- 
missed by  Himself.  All  this  indicates  the  setting  aside  of 
Israel,  their  rejection,  though  never  complete  nor  final. 
He  Himself  goes  up  into  the  mountain  apart  to  pray.  The 
whole  night  is  spent  by  Him  there  in  the  presence  of  the 
Father.  He  is  absent,  both  from  the  crowds  and  from  His 
disciples,  and  while  the  multitudes  He  had  fed  scatter,  His 
disciples  are  tossed  upon  the  sea.  In  the  prophet  Hosea 
we  read  that  Jehovah  saith  "I  will  go  and  return  to  My 
place"  (Hosea  VH5).  His  going  upon  the  mountain  speaks 
of  His  withdrawal  and  the  place  which  He  occupies  in  the 
presence  of  the  Father,  as  intercessor  and  advocate.  The 
third  incident  recorded,  the  stormy  night,  the  storm-tossed 
disciples,  the  coming  Lord  in  the  fourth  watch,  Peter's  sepa- 
ration to  meet  him,  the  morning  which  brings  peace  and 
the  renewed  healing  by  the  returned  Lord,  all  is  full  of 
meaning  and  rich  in  typical  application. 

The  night  is  a  picture  of  the  time  during  which  He  is 
absent,  this  present  evil  age  in  which  we  live.  His  re- 
turn from  the  mountain  in  the  morning  foreshadows  His 
second  coming  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  age. 


17 

And  now  we  read  what  happens  in  that  night  during 
His  absence.  "But  the  ship  was  now  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea,  distressed  by  the  waves  for  the  wind  was  contrary" 
(verse  24).  While  He  is  away  night  and  storm  reign  and 
His  own  are  in  distress,  the  wind  is  contrary.  Could  we 
find  a  better  description  of  the  present  age  than  a  stormy 
sea,  a  contrary  wind  and  a  dark  night?  Surely  the  age  is 
perfectly  portrayed  by  these.  It  is  an  age  of  storm,  peril 
and  night.  How  strange  that  with  the  most  emphatic  as 
well  as  plain  statements  of  holy  writ  concerning  the  charac- 
teristics of  this  age,  the  greater  part  of  the  professing 
church  can  teach  precisely  the  opposite  and  speak  of  it  as 
an  age  of  peace,  light  and  progress.  Surely  Scripture  is 
very  definite  that  Satan  is  the  god  of  this  age,  and  night 
increases  under  his  rule ;  peace  is  impossible.  We  find  in 
the  very  short  description  of  that  night  in  which  the  Lord 
wag  absent,  a  description  of  the  age.  It  is  true  still  and 
the  one  who  believes  otherwise  and  expects  peace  and  calm 
now  will  be  sadly  disappointed. 

But  if  the  night,  the  rising  waves,  the  contrary  wind, 
are  pictures  of  the  age,  what  can  the  little  ship  mean,  which 
sails  across  the  storm  sea?  The  applications  which  are 
made  of  the  ship  are  manifold.  A  favored  one  is  to  use 
it  as  a  type  of  the  church  and  speak  of  the  disciples  as 
believers  who  are  in  the  church  and  who  have  their  fears 
and  doubts,  who  tremble  in  view  of  the  towering  waves 
and  the  contrary  wind.  But  such  an  application  cannot 
be  made  to  correspond  with  the  teaching  of  the  Word  con- 
cerning the  true  church.  The  true  church  is  above  the 
waters,  above  the  storms,  in  union  with  Himself  who  is  in 
the  presence  of  God.  The  frightened  disciples,  full  of  fears 
and  expecting  every  moment  the  deep  to  swallow  them  up, 
could  hardly  be  taken  as  types  of  the  true  believer,  who 
knows  his  position  in  Christ.     He,  too,  is  above  the  storm, 


i8 

and  though  he  may  be  storm-tossed,  as  much  as  this  little 
ship  upon  the  sea,  though  Satan's  power  may  ever  play 
about  him  and  the  wind  be  contrary,  yet  through  it  all 
does  he  not  fear,  but  sings  the  song  which  is  heard  above 
the  howling  wind,  'Tor  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death, 
nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor 
things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth, 
nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

What  does  the  ship  mean?  It  may  be  taken  in  a  general 
way  to  be  a  type  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  Lord  absent 
from  those  who  are  in  a  sense  His  own  to  whom  He  came, 
and  who  rejected  Him,  who  refused  Him,  are  upon  the 
sea.  The  sea  represents  the  nations ;  the  waves  and  the 
wind,  the  persecutions  and  the  distress  which  come  upon 
them.  It  is  an  excellent  portrayal  of  the  history  of  God's 
ancient  people  from  the  time  they  refused  their  King  until 
He  returns  to  be  received  by  them.  This  ship  with  flutter- 
ing sails,  broken  masts,  tossed  like  a  ball  from  wave  to 
wave,  blown  hither  and  thither,  uncontrollable  and  yet  con- 
trolled, ever  in  danger  and  never  in  danger  of  going  down 
— this  ship  is  the  type  of  the  Jewish  ship,  the  Jewish  nation. 
It  is  still  upon  the  sea.  It  is  still  the  same  old  storm-tossed 
vessel.  The  winds  more  than  ever  contrary.  It  seeks  an 
harbor  now,  trying  to  cast  anchor  on  the  shore  of  their 
own  land,  but  a  boisterous  wind  is  coming  and  while  the 
ship  is  miraculously  kept,  there  will  be  no  haven,  no  peace, 
till  He  comes  again  who  is  their  King,  the  Son  of  David. 

But  this  application,  correct  as  it  is,  is  too  general.  We 
have  spoken  of  the  ship  and  not  of  the  disciples.  The 
disciples  must  be  taken  as  the  type  of  the  Jewish  remnant. 
We  saw  from  the  tenth  chapter  that  the  disciples  sent  forth 
then  were  representing  the  Jewish  remnant.  When  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  left  the  earth  and  went  to  the  Father's 


19 

house  to  prepare  a  place,  He  did  not  leave  a  church  behind. 
There  was  no  church  on  the  earth  when  our  Lord  ascended 
upon  high,  and  when  He  comes  back  to  earth  again  He  will 
not  find  the  church  on  the  earth,  but  He  will  come  back  to 
be  received  by  the  remnant  of  His  earthly  people.  It  is  in 
this  light  the  incident  has  to  be  interpreted,  which  however 
does  not  forbid  applications  in  other  directions. 

"And  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  He  went  toward 
them,  walking  upon  the  sea.  But  when  the  disciples  saw 
Him  walking  upon  the  sea,  they  were  troubled,  saying,  It 
is  an  apparition ;  and  they  cried  out  for  fear''  (verses  25,  26). 

He  had  left  His  place  on  the  mountain  and  returned. 
His  return  was  in  the  fourth  watch  cf  the  night,  right  be- 
fore the  dawning  of  the  morning.  And  as  He  left  that 
place  on  the  mountain  when  He  was  here  in  the  earth,  so 
will  He  arise  and  leave  the  place  on  His  Father's  throne 
and  come  back  to  earth,  to  the  very  land  where  He  was 
once  rejected.  First,  He  will  leave  His  place  and  descend 
from  heaven  with  a  shout  and  come  into  the  air,  where  we 
shall  meet  Him.  The  fourth  watch  is  the  time  when  He 
leaves  His  place  and  comes.  The  fourth  watch  is  now. 
The  gradual  approaching  of  the  Lord,  His  person  seen 
dimly  in  the  distance,  the  fear  of  the  disciples  who  cry  out 
for  terror,  instead  of  shouting  for  joy  that  He  is  coming, 
all  finds  its  proper  application.  How  many  there  are  in 
Christendom,  for  whom  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  the 
events  connected  with  it  have  no  joy,  but  bring  fear  and 
terror  to  the  heart.  And  these  days,  the  days  of  the  fourth 
watch,  are  filled  with  signs  which  herald  His  coming.  The 
true  believer,  however,  knows  no  fear  in  the  fourth  watch, 
for  he  waits  and  watches  for  His  coming,  and  if  it  were 
possible  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Coming  One  leaving  His 
Father's  throne,  descending  into  the  air,  the  believing  heart 
would  rejoice.     We  love  His  appearing,  and  the  fact  that 


20 

He  is  coming  but  intensifies  the  longing  of  the  heart  to 
see  Him  as  He  is.  The  believer  knows  no  such  fear  as 
the  Jewish  disciples  had,  when  they  saw  Him  walking  on 
the  water.  Had  they  known,  it  is  the  Lord,  and  that  He 
comes  to  bring  peace  and  safety,  we  doubt  not  their  cries 
would  have  ceased.  All  has  a  meaning  for  the  Jewish  rem- 
nant, which  will  be  on  the  scene  when  our  glorious  hope 
has  been  realized. 

"But  immediately  Jesus  spake  unto  them  saying,  Be  of 
good  courage:  it  is  I ;  be  not  afraid"  (verse  27).  These 
precious,  comforting  words  were  heard  above  the  roaring  of 
the  hurricane  and  the  noise  of  many  waters.  May  we  hear 
them  continually  in  the  midst  of  increasing  difficulties,  in 
the  hour  of  test  and  trial,  in  affliction,  in  the  dark  valley 
of  suffering  and  in  the  experiences  we  call  "disappoint- 
ments." Blessed  are  we  if  we  do.  The  darkest  place, 
even  if  it  is  the  dungeon,  will  become  illuminated  and  re- 
sound with  joyous  praise.  Surely  Paul  in  Rome  must  have 
heard  these  precious  words,  "Be  of  good  courage — it  is  I — 
be  not  afraid !"  May  we  take  all  from  His  hands  by  be- 
lieving we  arc  in  His  hands  and  thus  face  every  trial,  every 
tempest,  with  the  assurance  that  there  is  nothing  to  be 
feared. 

But  in  the  ship,  in  that  company  is  one  who  recognizes 
the  voice,  one  who  recognizes  Him  through  the  mist  of  the 
storm  and  the  vanishing  shadows  of  the  night.  And  Peter 
answered  and  said :  "Lord,  if  it  be  Thou,  bid  me  to  come 
to  Thee  upon  the  waters.  And  He  said,  Come.  And 
Peter  having  descended  from  the  ship,  walked  on  the 
waters  to  go  to  Jesus."  Here  another  significant  type  is 
before  us.  We  shall  soon  learn  from  this  Gospel  that  the 
Lord  announces  the  building  of  His  church.  In  the  six- 
teenth chapter  we  find  the  words,  "Upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  My  church."    We  learn  that  it  was  Peter  who  said, 


21 

"Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  and  upon 
this  rock,  Christ  in  resurrection,  the  Lord  announces  His 
church  will  be  built.  To  Peter  also  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
were  committed,  and  how  he  could  use  them  we  find  in  the 
book  of  Acts.  Now  church  means  "out-calling,"  not  only 
an  outcalling  from  the  nations,  but  an  outcalling  from  that 
which  is  passed,  the  Jewish  things.  Peter,  so  prominent  in 
this  incident,  in  his  act  of  faith  in  leaving  the  ship,  turning 
his  back  upon  his  frightened  kinsmen,  stepping  on  the  waters, 
going  to  Jesus  to  meet  Him,  stands  as  a  type  for  the  church. 
It  is  true  all  the  truth  concerning  the  church  was  revealed 
through  Paul,  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  It  is  true, 
through  Paul  the  company  was  led  forth  out  of  the  ship 
to  go  forth  to  meet  the  Coming  One,  but  Peter  also  stands 
in  his  action  typically  for  these  truths,  which  we  have  later 
so  fully  revealed  in  the  Pauline  epistles. 

It  is  separation,  and  this  separation  was  an  act  of  faith 
which  we  sec  here.  It  is  the  true  position  of  the  church, 
as  well  as  the  individual  believer.  The  eld  Jewish  ship  is  to 
be  left  behind.  The  path  for  the  church  is  the  path  of  faith. 
The  object  before  the  church  is  the  coming  Lord.  The 
word  from  Him  is,  Come.  The  walk  to  be  like  His  walk. 
He  has  triumphed  over  sin  and  death,  the  world  and  Satan ; 
the  waves  and  storms  cannot  harm  nor  hinder  Him.  And 
we  are  associated  with  Him.  He  wants  us  to  walk  on  the 
water.  This  is  the  calling  of  the  church.  Separation  first 
unto  Him.  Obedience  to  His  Word  and  then  walking  on 
the  water  to  meet  Him. 

Alas !  where  is  it  now,  this  church  separated,  gone  out 
to  meet  the  Bridegroom  ?  That  which  calls  itself  church  is 
a  miserable  ship,  worse  than  the  Jewish  ship  after  which 
the  modern  "church"  is  only  too  often  modeled.  As  indi- 
vidual believers,  however,  separation  is  possible.  You,  dear 
reader,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  confusion  and  failure,  in  this 


22 

fourth  watch,  you  may  hear  His  voice,  "Come/'  He  is 
coming.  He  wants  you  to  take  the  path  of  faith,  the  path 
He  walked  Himself.  "Behold  the  Bridegroom !  Go  ye  out 
to  meet  Him!"     Have  you  gone  out  to  meet  Him? 

"But  seeing  the  wind  boisterous,  He  was  afraid;  and 
beginning  to  sink  he  cried  out,  saying,  Lord  save  me.  And 
immediately  Jesus  stretched  out  His  hand  and  took  hold  of 
him,  and  said  unto  him,  O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
didst  thou  doubt?" 

All  is  again  pregnant  with  meaning. 

What  made  P©ter  sink  after  he  stepped  out  so  boldly 
and  walked  on  the  stormy  waves  to  meet  his  Lord  ?  It  was 
a  boisterous  wind ;  and  Peter,  instead  of  looking  to  Jesus 
only,  was  frightened  by  that  boisterous  wind  and  began  to 
sink.  Has  this  not  been  repeated  in  our  own  experience? 
We  heard  His  voice,  we  separated  ourselves,  we  followed 
Him,  and  then  the  enemy  raised  some  boisterous  wind. 
He  always  does  when  we  desire  to  follow  the  Lord  in  all 
things.  Oh,  how  often  we  made  the  same  mistake  which 
feter  made  !  Looking  away  from  the  Coming  One,  the  One 
who  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  our  feet  began  to  sink 
and  to  slip  back.  But  could  Peter  ever  have  sunk  down? 
Never !  Nor  can  the  believer  ever  perish.  But  Jesus 
lifted  Peter  up,  and  he  stood  again  on  the  waves,  triumph- 
ing now  through  His  power  over  the  boisterous  wind,  and 
then  he  walked  not  towards  Jesus,  but  he  walked  with 
Jesus.  Even  so  He  deals  with  us  in  His  g  jat  mercy, 
never  leaving  nor  forsaking  us,  saving  us  out  of  the  tem- 
pestuous sea. 

How  beautifully  this  fits  into  the  dispensational  picture 
we  have  already  given.  There  is  a  time  coming  when 
Satan  will  bring  on  a  very  boisterous  wind.  It  is  called  the 
"hour  of  temptation"  in  Revelation.  That  old  serpent  is 
even  now  getting  ready  for  it.    But  the  Lord  will  never  let 


*3 

His  own  sink.  Jesus  stretched  forth  His  hand  and  caught 
Peter.  He  takes  him  by  the  hand,  and  both  go  now  to  the 
ship.  So  will  He  catch  up  His  waiting  church,  and  will  re- 
turn with  His  saints  to  bring  peace. 

And  as  they  came  into  the  ship  the  wind  ceased.  Satan's 
power  was  at  an  end  as  soon  as  Jesus  was  in  the  ship. 
When  He  comes  back  to  earth  again  there  will  be  peace,  and 
not  before.  The  great  need  of  the  world  is  to  have  the 
King  back.  What  a  glorious  picture  that  must  have  been — 
Jesus  attd  Peter  coming  to  the  ship !  The  sun  was  now 
shedding  the  first  rays  over  the  sea,  the  dark  night  was 
over,  the  anxiety  of  the  little  flock  was  turned  into  joy 
and  laughter,  while  the  raging  sea  became  as  calm  and 
smooth  as  if  there  had  never  been  a  storm.  How  much 
grander  it  will  be  when  the  Lord  comes  back  with  His 
saints,  and  the  sun  of  righteousness  will  rise  with  healing 
in  his  wings ! 

"Then  they  that  were  in  the  ship  came  and  worshipped 
Him,  saying:   Truly,  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God." 

It  seems  they  had  never  believed  this.  The  great  stum- 
bling block  with  the  Jew  is  yet,  "He  made  Himself  God." 
Again  and  again  we  are  being  asked  by  them,  "Can  God 
have  a  Son  ?"  Many  of  the  Jews  acknowledge  Jesus  to-day 
as  a  reformer  and  a  good  man,  but  never  as  Son  of  God. 
They  will  know  Him  when  He  comes,  and  the  nation  will 
fall  at  His  pierced  feet  and  worship  Him  as  the  King  and 
Son  of  the  Living  God. 

The  closing  verses  of  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Matthew 
speak  of  Jesus  going  to  the  opposite  shore,  where  He  healed 
the  diseased.  "And  when  they  had  crossed  over,  they  came 
to  the  land  of  Gennesaret.  And  when  the  men  of  that  place 
had  recognized  Him,  they  sent  in  all  that  region  round 
about,  and  they  brought  unto  Him  all  that  were  sick.  And 
they  besought  Him  that  they  might  only  touch  the  hem  of 


24 

His  garment ;  and  as  many  as  touched  were  made  perfectly 
whole."  It  happened  in  the  place  where  they  had  rejected 
Him.  This  may  be  taken  as  a  true  type  of  the  blessed  work 
of  redemption,  salvation  and  restoration  which  will  take 
place  during  the  millennium. 


£^£3 


25 


CHAPTER  XV. 

This  chapter  introduces  us  more  fully  into  the  events 
which  follow  the  rejection  of  the  King  by  His  people  and 
which  manifest  the  enmity,  the  satanic  hatred  against  the 
Lord.  He  has  now  set  His  face  like  a  flint  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  and  soon  He  will  reveal  His  sufferings;  His 
death,  His  resurrection  and  His  return  to  earth.  While 
going  on  steadily  towards  the  cross,  which  was  ever  before 
Him,  that  departure  He  should  accomplish  in  Jerusalem, 
the  enemies  swarm  around  Him,  they  test  Him  and  bring 
their  questions,  but  He  silences  them  all.  The  wisdom  of 
Him  who  is  wisdom  Himself  is  gloriously  manifested.  At 
last  the  tempting  and  accusing  scribes  and  Pharisees  have 
spent  their  last  arrow  upon  Him.  He  asks  them  a  question 
which  they  could  not  answer  (chapter  xxii).  He  then  re- 
veals their  wickedness  and  hatred  of  Him  and  pronounces 
His  *'woes"  upon  them  followed  by  His  last  word  to  Jeru- 
salem (chapter  xxiii).  But  while  these  evil  men  with  their 
evil  hearts,  under  the  leadership  of  Satan,  approach  the 
Lord  from  time  to  time,  He  also  teaches  His  disciples  and 
utters  parables  all  in  harmony  with  the  scope  of  the  entire 
gospel.  We  shall  fully  show  this  as  we  continue  in  our 
exposition. 

"Then  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  from  Jerusalem  come  up 
to  Jesus,  saying,  Why  do  thy  disciples  transgress  what  has 
been  delivered  by  the  ancients,  for  they  do  not  wash  their 
hands  when  they  eat  bread?''  (v.  I,  2). 

We  can  easily  learn  from  this  that  behind  this  deputation 
from  the  religious  Jerusalem  stood  the  whole  company  of 
Pharisees  and  scribes,  and  that  it  was  a  cunningly  devised 


26 

and  concerted  attempt  to  ensnare  Him.  The  Lord 
in  answer  asks  them  another  question  and  lays  bare 
their  wicked  hypocrisies,  after  which  He  addresses  the 
people  and  answers  Peter's  question.  Before  we  follow 
these  events  a  more  detailed  explanation  of  the  question  of 
the  Pharisees  and  scribes  is  in  order. 

We  are  aware  that  the  two  questions,  the  one  by  the 
Pharisees  and  the  ether,  the  Lord's  counter  question  in  the 
beginning  of  the  fifteenth  chapter,  are  not  fully  grasped 
by  many  readers  of  the  Word.  The  Jews  believed  and 
still  believe  (at  least,  the  orthodox)  in  a  written  law  and 
in  an  oral  law.  This  they  founded  upon  Exodus  xxxiv:27 
and  taught  that  while  Moses  wrote  down  a  law  another 
oral  law  was  given  to  him  and  that  this  oral  law  was 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  It  is  believed 
by  them  that  Moses  received  both  the  written  and  the  oral 
law  on  Mount  Sinai.  They  placed  the  oral  law  above  the 
written  law.*  Circumstances,  however,  forced  them  to 
commit  the  oral  law  to  writing,  which  was  done  in '  the 
Talmud  (meaning  doctrine),  from  which  we  can  learn  all 
the  ridiculous  paraphrases  and  wicked  additions  to  the  law 
the  ancients  had  made  under  the  plea  that  it  was  given 
by  God.  To  illustrate  what  interpretation  they  put  upon 
certain  statements  of  the  law  we  select  Exodus  xxxiv:26: 
"Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother's  milk."  The 
oral  law  has  expounded  this  to  mean  that  it  is  a  sin  to  eat 
meat  and  drink  milk  at  the  same  time,  and  the  elders  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  declare,  if  a  pot  of  milk  boils  over  and 
some  of  the  milk  drops  into  a  pot  of  meat,  the  meat  is 
unclean  and  must  be  thrown  away.  Butter,  coming  from 
milk,  is  likewise  not  to  be  eaten  with  meat,  etc. 


*The  words  of  the  scribes  are  lovely  above  the  words  of  the  law ; 
for  the  words  of  the  law  are  light  and  weighty,  but  the  words  of  the 
scribes  are  all  weighty. — Bcracoth. 


*7 

Such  a  question  these  tempting  scribes  and  Pharisees 
brought  to  the  Lord.  It  is  the  question  about  the  washing 
of  the  hands.  It  will  interest  the  reader  to  learn  a  little 
more  about  this  unscriptural  act  and  what  emphasis  the 
Pharisees  and  the  present  day  talmudical  Jews  lay  upon 
the  washing  of  hands. 

Nothing  whatever  is  said  about  such  washing  of  hands 
in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures,  but  the  oral  law  has  pre- 
cept upon  precept  upon  this  ceremony,  which,  if  neglected, 
is  looked  upon  as  a  great  sin,  worthy  of  excommunication. 
One  even  was  permitted  to  eat  unclean  meats,  forbidden  in 
the  law,  and  drink  unclean  drinks,  as  long  as  he  fulfilled  the 
traditions  of  the  elders  and  washed  his  hands  before  he 
broke  the  law.  The  Pharisaical  righteousness  consisted  in 
this :  "Whosoever  hath  his  place  in  the  land  of  Israel,  and 
eateth  his  common  food  in  cleanness,  and  speaks  the  holy 
language,  and  recites  his  prayers  morning  and  evening,  let 
him  be  confident  that  he  obtains  the  life  of  the  world  to 
come."  Volumes  were  written  and  are  in  existence  which 
enlarge  in  the  most  critical  and  minutest  way  upon  the 
washing  of  hands.  Dissertations  we  find  here  on  the  sim- 
ple washing  and  the  plunging  into  water,  on  the  manner  of 
the  washing,  what  hand  is  to  be  washed  first,  the  time 
when  it  is  to  be  done,  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  used, 
and  many  other  rules.  Besides  this  we  find  the  grossest 
superstitions.  We  read  some  years  ago  in  a  jargon  book, 
published  in  Poland,  that  evil  spirits  light  upon  the  hands 
over  night  and  if  the  hands  are  not  washed  as  prescribed 
by  the  oral  law  these  evil  spirits  find  their  way  into  the 
mouth  and  stomach  of  the  transgressor  and  defile  him.* 


♦This  is  undoubtedly  founded  upon  the  following  talmudical  state- 
ment :  "Shibta  is  an  evil  spirit  which  sits  upon  man's  hands  at  night. 
If  any  touch  his  food  with  unwashed  hands,  that  spirit  sits  upon 
that  food,  and  there  is  danger  from  it." 


28 

But  enough  of  this.  Such  were  and  are  the  traditions 
of  the  elders.  The  Lord  might  have  easily  dismissed  the 
question  of  the  Jerusalem  deputation  by  telling  them  that 
their  oral  law  is  invalid,  but  He  aims  at  something  higher. 
He  aims  at  their  conscience  and  uncovers  their  true  con- 
dition. With  His  divine  wisdom  He  has  the  answer  ready 
which  will  completely  shut  their  mouths. 

"But  He  answering  said  to  them,  Why  do  ye  also  trans- 
gress the  commandment  of  God  on  account  of  your  tradi- 
tional teaching?"  For  God  commanded  saying:  "Honor 
father  and  mother ;  and  he  that  speaks  ill  of  father  and 
mother,  let  him  die  the  death.  But  ye  say,  Whosoever  shall 
say  to  his  father  or  mother,  It  is  a  gift  (corban)  whatso- 
ever it  be  by  which  received  from  me  thou  wouldst  be 
profited;  and  he  shall  in  no  wise  honor  his  father  or  his 
mother;  and  ye  have  made  void  the  commandment  of  God 
on  account  of  your  traditional  teaching"   (v.  3-6). 

The  great  lesson  from  this  is  the  fact  which  our  Lord 
makes  so  prominent,  that  traditional  teachings  lead  to  the 
transgressing  of  God's  commandment  and  make  it  void. 
This  is  true  in  every  case.  If  we  look  upon  religious  Chris- 
tendom with  its  traditions  and  man  made  rules  and  institu- 
tions, we  find  ample  proof  of  it  and  could  illustrate  it  in 
many  ways.  The  one  who  follows  the  traditions  of  Christen- 
dom most,  finds  himself  soon  in  Rome  and  then  in  out  and 
out  opposition  to  God's  revealed  will  and  purpose,  and  he 
who  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  traditional  teachings  and 
rejects  them  altogether  is  in  submission  to  the  Word  of  God 
and  looks  to  it  as  his  only  authority. 

Surely  ritualistic  Christendom,  the  so-called  religious 
world,  is  the  direct  offspring  of  Phariseeism.  Its  traditions, 
lent,  holidays,  man  made  ministry  and  many  invented  cere- 
monies, have  superseded  the  Word  of  God  and  made  it  of 
non-effect.    We  could  easily  digress  here  and  enlarge  upon 


29 

this  thought.  We  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  make  the  applica- 
tion. But  think  of  the  awful  sin.  dear  reader,  that  men  can. 
dare  to  set  aside  with  their  own  inventions  and  traditional 
teachings  the  very  Word  of  God,  eternally  settled  in  the 
heavens!  This  has  been  done,  and  God  will  judge  Christen- 
dom for  it  in  His  own  time.  The  Pharisees  had  no  room  for 
the  Christ  of  God;  they  hated  Him.  Modern  Phariseeism 
may  talk  of  a  Christ  and  use  His  name;  it  rejects  the 
Christ,  His  person  and  His  work. 

The  Lord,  to  uncover  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  with 
their  traditions,  refers  to  the  commandment  which  demands 
the  child  to  honor  father  and  mother.  To  this  Jewish  tradi- 
tion had  added,  "A  son  is  bound  to  provide  his  father  meat 
and  drink,  to  clothe  him,  to  cover  him,  to  lead  him  in  and 
out,  to  wash  his  face,  hands  and  feet..  A  son  is  bound  to 
nourish  his  father,  yea,  to  beg  for  him."*  But  with  all  this 
strictness  tradition  had  found  a  way  how  to  avoid  this  obli- 
gation. A  person  had  only  to  say  "corban" — a  gift,  some- 
thing dedicated  to  the  temple  or  a  vow  of  personal  obliga- 
tion, and  the  son  was  completely  released  from  any  duty 
towards  his  father  and  mother. 

"And  so  stringent  was  the  ordinance  that  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  such  a  vow  was  binding,  even  if  what  was  voiced 
involved  a  breach  of  the  law.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  such 
vows  in  regard  to  parents  would  be  binding,  and  were  ac- 
tually made.  Indeed,  the  question  is  discussed  in  the 
Mishnah,  in  so  many  words,  whether  "honor  of  father  and 
mother"  constituted  a  ground  for  invalidating  a  vow,  and 
decided  on  the  negative  against  a  solitary  dissenting  voice. 
And  if  doubt  should  still  exist,  a  case  is  related  in  the 
Mishnah,  in  which  a  father  was  thus  shut  out  by  the  vow  of 


'Kiddushim. 


3° 

his  son  from  anything  by  which  he  might  be  profited  by 
him."* 

And  now  follows  the  righteous  word  of  condemnation 
by  Him  who  searches  the  hearts  of  men.  "Hypocrites !  well 
has  Esaias  prophesied  about  you,  saying,  This  people  honor 
Me  with  the  lips,  but  their  heart  is  far  away  from  Me;  but 
in  vain  do  they  worship  Me,  teaching  as  teachings  command- 
ments of  men"   (v.  8,  9). 

The  same  verdict  He  pronounces  upon  the  religious  world, 
modern  Phariseeism.  There  is  much  talk  of  worship  and 
approaching  God — the  Lord  has  only  one  word  for  the 
whole  thing,  "Hypocrites" !  May  we  through  the  rich  grace 
of  God  be  delivered  from  Phariseeism  in  any  shape  or  form 
and  keep  delivered.  It  will  need  great  heart-searching  and 
self- judgment. 

"And  having  called  to  Him  the  crowd,  He  said  to  them, 
Hear  and  understand.  Net  what  enters  into  the  mouth 
defiles  the  man,  but  what  goes  forth  out  of  the  mouth,  this 
defiles  the  man"  (v.  10,  11).  Without  fear,  which  He  never 
knew,  He  declares  publicly  the  evil  teachings  of  the  sayings 
of  the  elders.  Simple  truth,  indeed,  and  yet  how  many  who 
are  professing  Christians  have  not  hold  of  the  very  first 
principle,  that  the  evil  is  within  which  defiles  the  man. 

Of  course  the  Pharisees  were  offended.  It  lowered  their 
dignity  with  the  common  people.  They  looked  upon  them- 
selves as  the  leaders  of  the  people  and  here,  after  so  strongly 
proving  the  contrary  teachings  of  traditions,  He  corrects  in 
a  few  simple  words  the  errors  of  the  Pharisees. 

"Then  His  disciples  coming  up  said  to  Him,  Dost  thou 
know  that  the  Pharisees,  having  heard  this  word,  have  been 
offended?  But  He  answering  said,  Every  plant  which  my 
heavenly  Father  has  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up.     Leave 


*See  Edersheim,  "Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  the  Messiah." 


3i 

them  alone ;  they  are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind ;  but  if  blind 
lead  blind,  both  will  fall  into  a  ditch"  (v.  12-14).  These 
words  not  alone  show  the  doom  of  the  Jewish  Pharisees, 
but  they  speak  also  of  the  doom  of  that  which  His  heavenly 
Father  has  not  planted — Christendom.  It  will  be  rooted  up 
and  then  cast  out  with  its  boasted  leaders,  who  are  but 
leaders  of  the  blind. 

But  even  the  disciples  did  not  understand  His  plain  and 
simple  language.  Peter  calls  that  which  was  plain  teaching 
"a  parable." 

"And  Peter  answering  to  Him  said,  Expound  to  us  this 
parable.  But  He  said,  Are  ye  also  without  intelligence  ?  Do 
ye  not  apprehend  that  everything  that  enters  into  the  mouth 
finds  its  way  into  the  belly,  and  is  cast  forth  into  the 
draught?  but  the  things  which  go  forth  out  of  the  mouth 
come  out  of  the  heart  and  these  defile  men.  For  out  of  the 
heart  come  forth  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,  fornica- 
tions, thefts,  false  witnessings,  blasphemies ;  these  are  the 
things  which  defile  man,  but  the  eating  with  unwashed  hands 
does  not  defile  man"  (v.  15-20).  How  slow  they  were  to  un- 
derstand the  full  meaning  of  what  He  wanted  to  convey  to 
their  hearts.  Our  Lord  shows  the  true  source  of  all  defile- 
ment. It  is  within.  The  Pharisees  did  not  believe  in  the  ut- 
ter corruption  of  the  heart.  "I  the  Lord  search  the  heart" 
(Jer.  xviino).  And  this  searcher  of  hearts  is  present  here 
on  the  scene  and  throws  His  own  light  upon  the  source  of 
evil,  of  which  He  had  said  through  Jeremiah,  "The  heart  is 
deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked."  Blessed 
is  he  who  bows  before  this  verdict. 

The  incident  which  follows  is  in  closest  connection  and 
fullest  harmony  with  all  this  inasmuch  as  it  reveals  deliver- 
ance from  the  evil  which  is  within. 

The  first  part  showed  us  how  the  Lord  tore  down  the 
mask  from  the  Pharisees  and  uncovered  the  human  heart. 


"All  things  are  naked  and  open  unto  the  eyes  of  Him  with 
whom  we  have  to  do."  The  One  who  uncovers  here  and 
knoweth  the  heart,  desperately  wicked,  the  Heart-searcher, 
is  the  same  who  called  in  Eden,  "Adam,  where  art  thou?" 
What  else  are  the  religious  observances,  the  traditions  of 
men,  than  miserable  fig  leaves  to  conceal  the  nakedness  of 
the  sinner!  But  He  stripped  off  these  fig  leaves,  He  re- 
moved the  covering  and  aimed  at  the  conscience.  His  divine 
light  revealed  the  darkness  and  defilement  within.  Blessed 
is  the  man  who  puts  himself  in  that  light  and  lets  that  light 
uncover  and  undo  him ! 

The  Holy  Spirit  now  connects  with  the  manifestation  of 
Christ  as  the  One  who  uncovers  the  heart  another  incident. 
It  is  the  Syrophcenician  woman  and  the  healing  of  her 
daughter.  If  we  have  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  the 
manifestation  of  Jehovah,  who  reveals,  we  find  in  the  second 
part  Jehovah  revealed,  who  covers  and  delivers  His  poor, 
naked  and  needy  creature.  The  blessed  story  before  us  is 
the  full  revelation  of  the  loving  heart  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

"And  Jesus  going  forth  from  thence,  went  away  into 
parts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon."  He  left  the  religious  Pharisees 
with  their  hypocrisies  and  deceitful  dealings.  He  turns 
His  back  upon  all,  and  chooses  for  His  path  a  country 
where  religious  observances  were  unknown,  where  sin  and 
misery  held  sway.  How  significant  once  more !  A  fore- 
shadowing again  of  what  should  happen  soon :  the  Gospel 
to  be  sent  to  the  Gentiles.  And  now  we  read  of  her  who 
is  the  object  of  His  divine  compassion,  and  through  her 
the  Lord  manifests  His  rich  grace  and  power  to  deliver 
from  evil. 

"And  lo,  a  Canaanitish  woman,  coming  out  from  those 
borders,  cried  to  Him,  saying,  Have  pity  on  me,  Lord,  Son 
of  David !  My  daughter  is  miserably  possessed  by  a  demon, 
But  He  did  not  answer  her  a  word," 


33 

Assuredly  He  knew  her  and  her  need,  her  struggles  and 
her  faith,  and  as  He  went  through  Samaria  on  account  of 
that  one  soul  who  came  to  the  well,  so  here  He  enters 
these  parts  to  meet  the  needy  one  and  deliver  her.  His 
heart  is  all  for  her,  and  His  divine  love  and  desire  is  toward 
her.  But  who  is  this  miserable,  crying  woman,  with  her 
face  marred  by  suffering,  lifting  her  imploring  eyes  to  Him 
in  whom  she  recognized  her  Deliverer  ?  She  is  a  Canaanitish 
woman,  or,  as  she  is  also  called  on  account  of  her  living 
in  that  country,  a  Syrophcenician.  She  belongs  to  a  race 
which  is  cursed.  The  Caananite  was  to  perish.  Israel  was 
called  to  carry  out  the  divine  sentence.  She  directs  her 
prayer  for  help  to  Him  as  Son  of  David.  Perhaps  she  had 
heard  of  Him  by  that  name,  and  how  He,  the  Son  of  David, 
drove  out  demons,  healed  the  sick  and  raised  the  dead. 
Faith  she  possesses,  and  faith  casts  itself  upon  Him,  trusting 
in  His  power  and  willingness  to  help.  But  had  she  a  claim 
upon  Him,  the  Son  of  David  ?  Had  she  a  promise  anywhere 
that  the  Son  of  David  would  come  and  deliver  and  heal  a 
Canaanitish  woman?  No,  not  one.  For  the  Canaanite  is 
no  hope  held  out  in  connection  with  Israel's  Messiah.  When 
at  last  the  Son  of  David  has  taken  His  place  upon  the 
throne  of  His  father  David,  the  Canaanite  will  have  been 
driven  out  of  the  land  (Joel  iii:i7;  Zech.  xiv:2i).  For 
this  reason  He  did  not  answer  her  a  word.  If  He  had 
opened  His  lips  it  could  have  only  been  to  speak  with  the 
authority  of  the  Sen  of  David,  and  that  would  have  meant 
her  doom.  But  nevertheless  is  His  heart  full  of  grace  and 
sympathy  for  her.  He  who  read  the  hearts  of  the  proud 
Pharisees  reads  her  heart  too,  knows  her  state  and  that 
faith  will  triumph.  So  He  answered  her  not  a  word.  In  that 
silence  was  hidden  all  His  rich  Grace  towards  her.  It  told 
her :  You  have  no  claim  on  Me  as  Son  of  David ;  you  have 
no  promise  to  claim  Me  as  David's  Son.     In  calling  Him 


34 

"Son  of  David"  she  claimed  what  was  not  hers.  He  wants 
her  to  know  that  she  is  to  come  with  no  claim,  as  one 
stripped  of  all.  This  is  the  gracious  object  before  Him  in 
being  silent  to  her  pitiful  cries. 

We  next  hear  the  voice  of  the  disciples.  "And  His  dis- 
ciples came  to  Him  and  asked  Him,  saying,  Dismiss  her,  for 
she  cries  after  us."  They  did  not  suggest  that  her  request 
should  be  granted.  Perhaps  they  meant  it  by  their  expressed 
desire,  "Dismiss  her."  Had  they  not  seen  multitudes 
healed?  Did  they  not  see  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
the  fever-stricken  and  the  infirm  press  around  Him,  and  He 
had  healed  them  all?  The  centurion  with  his  sick  servant, 
too,  was  a  Gentile,  and  now  they  ask  Him  to  dismiss  her. 
How  little  they  knew  of  His  ways.  He  could  not  dismiss 
her  without  the  blessing  she  craved.  He  could  not  give 
her  the  blessing  she  wanted  as  long  as  she  appealed  to  Him 
as  Son  of  David,  laying  claim  to  that  to  which  she  had  no 
right. 

"But  He  answering  said,  I  have  not  been  sent  save  to 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel." 

His  answer  was  not  only  meant  for  the  imploring  dis- 
ciples but  it  was  meant  for  her.  He  speaks,  of  course,  as 
Son  of  David.  And  oh !  how  wonderful  is  this  word,  though 
it  has  often  been  declared  as  harsh.  He  puts  her,  so  to 
speak,  in  the  right  path  to  receive  the  blessing.  It  is  one 
little  word  around  which  all  is  centered.  The  little  word  is 
"lost."  He  gave  her  thus  to  understand  He  had  come  for 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  and  if  they  were  lost, 
and  needed  a  Saviour,  how  much  more  she,  a  Canaanitish 
woman  ?  And  if  is  this  word,  lost,  which  faith  lays  hold 
upon,  and  through  which  she  is  enabled  to  draw  near  and 
ask  His  help  simply  as  a  needy  one.  "But  she  came  and 
worshipped  Him,  saying,  Lord  help  me."  She  has  under- 
stood; her  heart  grasped  the  meaning.     She  fully  realized 


35 

her  place  outside  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  be- 
cause she  knows  it  she  drops  His  title,  Son  of  David.  With 
this  she  declared,  "I  have  no  claim  upon  His  mercy."  But 
she  came.  Yes,  she  came  into  his  divine  presence,  and  wor- 
shipping she  falls  at  his  feet  with  a  cry  of  need,  "Lord  help 
me."  She  has  taken  her  place  before  Him,  and  casts  her- 
self upon  Him  with  all  her  need.  "Lord  help  me" — what  a 
blessed  prayer  it  is ! 

And  that  she  had  taken  the  true  place  in  which  He,  the 
Son  of  God,  could  bless  her,  is  soon  to  be  brought  out. 
Her  faith  is  to  be  tested — to  pass  through  the  fire.  He 
knew  her;  He  knew  the  answer  she  would  give,  and  in 
testing  her  He  points  out  the  way  to  Himself  and  to  the 
blessing  once  more.  Oh !  how  gracious  and  tender  He.  is ! 
And  still  He  deals  with  the  soul  in  the  same  tender  and 
loving  way. 

"But  He  answering  said,  It  is  not  well  to  take  the  biead 
of  the  children  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs."  What  would  she 
say  to  this  ?  A  dog — a  Gentile— the  bread  for  the  children  ! 
Is  her  faith  truly  paired  with  humility  (and  true  faith 
always  is)  to  stand  this  word?  Does  she  really  know  her- 
self as  such  an  unworthy  outcast?  Before  we  read  her 
answer  let  us  glance  at  the  word  "clogs."  The  word  used 
by  our  Lord  is  a  diminutive ;  it  really  means  "little  dogs." 
It  denotes  the  dogs  which  enter  the  house  to  find  some- 
thing to  eat  there  and  not  the  homeless  animals  which 
roam  through  Oriental  villages.  In  the  use  of  this  word 
she  understands  once  more  His  readiness  and  willingness 
to  bless  her.  And  so  He  led  her  down,  deeper  and  deeper, 
and  as  He  leads  her  down  her  hope  becomes  brighter  and 
brighter.  Thus  He  deals  with  the  soul  which  seeks  His 
help. 

But  now  faith  bursts  forth  in  all  its  fragrance.  Crushed 
she  lays  before  Him,   the  Lord.     Tenderly  His  eyes  must 


36 

have  rested  upon  His  poor  creature.  Her  appeal  to  the  Son 
of  David  was  hushed,  her  need  and  help,  her  expectation 
from  Him  alone,  and  now  the  word  which  had  crushed  her 
still  more  and  yet  which  holds  out  to  her  the  brightest 
promise. 

Listen  to  her  answer  as  it  comes  from  her  trembling 
heart  and  lips,  "Yea,  Lord,  for  even  the  dogs  eat  of  the 
crumbs  which  fall  from  the  table  of  their  master."  She 
admits  it  all.  She  has  nothing  to  answer  back.  She  as- 
sents to  it:  "Yea,  Lord."  Thou  art  right!  But  faith  rises 
higher.  She  takes  His  word  in  her  lips,  "the  dogs" — the 
little  dogs — "eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  the  table 
of  their  master."  The  little  dogs  are  cared  for  and  in  the 
confession  of  being  one  of  these  little  dogs  she  claims  from 
Mercy's  hands  a  few  crumbs.  She  has  conquered.  Once 
more  greater  faith  is  found  than  in  Israel.  And  now  He 
speaks  the  Word  which  must  have  filled  her  with  praise: 
"O,  woman,  great  is  thy  faith ;  be  it  to  thee  as  thou  de- 
sirest.  And  her  daughter  was  healed  from  that  very  hour." 
But  how  it  all  must  have  refreshed  His  heart — the  heart  of 
the  rejected  One — moving  on  towards  the  cross! 

However,  while  we  learn  the  way  of  grace  and  spiritual 
lessons  from  these  events,  let  us  not  forget  the  dispensa- 
tional  phase  of  it.  The  first  part  of  this  chapter  (verses 
1-20)  stands  for  the  apostasy  of  Israel  and  Israel  set  aside. 
The  incident  of  the  Canaanitish  woman  stands  typically  for 
the  call  of  the  Gentiles  and  Salvation  going  forth  to  them. 
The  third  part  of  the  chapter  reveals  the  dispensation  to 
come:  the  Kingdom  age. 

"And  Jesus  going  away  from  thence  came  towards  the 
sea  of  Galilee,  and  He  went  up  into  the  mountain  and  sat 
down  there.  And  great  crowds  came  to  Him,  having  with 
them  lame,  blind,  dumb,  crippled  and  many  others,  and 
they  cast  them  at  His  feet,  and  He  healed  them ;  so  that 


37 

the  crowds  wondered,  seeing  dumb  speaking,  crippled  sound, 
lame  walking,  and  blind  seeing;  and  they  glorified  the  God 
of  Israel.  But  Jesus  having  called  His  disciples  to  Him 
said,  I  have  compassion  on  the  crowd,  because  they  have 
stayed  with  Me  already  three  days  and  they  have  not  any- 
thing that  they  can  eat,  and  I  would  not  send  them  away 
fasting  lest  they  should  faint  on  the  way.  And  His  disciples 
say  to  Him,  Whence  should  we  have  so  many  loaves  in 
the  wilderness  as  to  satisfy  so  great  a  crowd?  And  Jesus 
says  to  them,  How  many  loaves  have  ye?  But  they  said, 
Seven  and  a  few  small  fishes.  And  He  commanded  the 
crowds  to  lie  down  on  the  ground;  and  having  taken  the 
seven  loaves  and  the  fishes,  and  having  given  thanks,  He 
broke  them  and  gave  them  to  His  disciples  and  His  disciples 
to  the  crowd.  And  all  ate  and  were  filled;  and  they  took 
up  what  was  over  and  above  of  the  fragments  seven  baskets 
full ;  but  they  that  ate  were  four  thousand  men,  besides 
women  and  children.  And  having  dismissed  the  crowds, 
He  went  on  board  ship  and  came  to  the  borders  of  Maga- 
dan." 

Here,  then,  we  have  once  more  a  foreshadowing  of  the 
coming  age.  The  God  of  Israel  is  glorified,  which  will 
not  come  to  pass  in  the  earth  until  the  King  comes  back 
and  establishes  His  kingdom.  Then  it  shall  be,  "Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest  and  peace  on  earth."  The  feeding  of 
the  second  crowd  of  people  has  the  same  meaning.  Three 
days  they  were  with  Him  and  on  the  third  day  He  fed  them 
miraculously.  As  we  have  shown  elsewhere,  the  third  day 
stands  always  for  resurrection  and  the  completion.  The 
seven  loaves  and  seven  baskets  of  fragments  teach  us  the 
same  lessons. 


38 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

After  the  wonderful  manifestation  of  Jehovah  among  His 
people,  in  the  healing  of  the  great  multitudes  and  the  feed- 
ing of  the  four  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children, 
the  Pharisees  appear  again  upon  the  scene,  and  this  time 
with  the  Sadducees  to  tempt  Him. 

"And  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  came  and  asked  Him, 
tempting  Him,  to  shew  them  a  sign  out  of  heaven"  (verse 
i).  The  Pharisees  were  the  strictest  sect  among  the  Jews. 
They  were  the  religious  class,  the  Ritualists  who  not  alone 
held  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  who  enforced  the  tradi- 
tional teachings.  They  were  hypocrites,  and  fully  exposed 
as  such  by  our  Lord  in  the  previous  chapter.  There  He 
uncovered  the  hypocrisies  and  the  wickedness  of  their  hearts. 
Once  before  the  Pharisees  and  the  scribes  had  come  to  Him 
with  their  subtle  cunning  and  asked  to  see  a  sign  from  Him 
(chapter  xii:38).  The  scribes  were  in  fullest  sympathy 
with  the  Pharisees,  being  as  religious  and  ritualistic  as  they 
were.  These  scribes  had  the  care  of  the  written  law 
and  studied  it.  They  made  the  transcripts,  expounded  the 
law,  explained  difficulties,  kept  the  records  and  were  also 
called  lawyers. 

The  Sadducees  were  the  very  opposite  from  the  Pharisees 
and  the  scribes.  The  Pharisees  hated  the  Sadducees,  and 
the  Sadducees  were  the  sworn  enemies  of  the  Pharisees. 
Sadduceeism  was  the  reaction  of  Phariseeism.  It  was  a 
reform  movement,  and  as  such  (like  all  reform)  a  big 
failure.  The  Sadducees  were  Freethinkers,  Rationalists. 
They  denied  the  supernatural.    Up  to  this  chapter  they  are 


mentioned  only  once  before.  In  the  third  chapter  we  read 
that  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees  came  to  the  Baptism 
of  John.  We  can  well  imagine  how  the  Pharisee,  when  he 
saw  a  Sadducee  on  the  road  out  to  the  wilderness,  would 
gather  his  long,  flowing  robe  around  himself  for  fear  that 
the  hem  of  his  garment  would  become  defiled  by  brushing 
up  against  that  unrighteous  Sadducee,  while  the  Sadducee 
had  nothing  but  looks  of  scorn  and  hatred  for  his 
brother.  John  greeted  them  with  the  title  which  belongs 
to  them  both,  "Offspring  of  vipers  I" 

Now,  here  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  chapter,  this 
event  happens,  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  agree  together 
to  tempt  the  Lord.  Both  make  a  common  cause  in  opposing 
the  Lord.  Most  likely  they  came  together  in  Conference. 
Well  could  they  meet  together,  though  outwardly  separated, 
yet  inwardly  possessed  by  the  same  satanic  hatred  against 
Him,  whose  words  had  so  completely  unmasked  Phariseeism 
and  whose  deeds  and  mightly  miracles  had  so  perfectly 
exposed  the  fallacy  of  Sadduceeism.  While  they  could  not 
agree  in  doctrine  and  practice  in  one  thing  they  could  agree 
and  were  perfectly  harmonious,  and  this  was,  the  hatred 
and  rejection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And,  as  before 
indicated  in  our  exposition  of  this  Gospel,  these  Pharisee? 
and  Sadducees,  these  sects  among  the  professing  earthly 
people  of  God  in  the  past,  are  perfectly  reproduced  in  the 
professing  sphere  of  Christendom.  The  modern  "Christian" 
Phariseeism  is  the  religious,  ritualistic  part  of  Christendom, 
having  a  name  to  live  but  being  dead,  the  form  of  godliness, 
but  denying  its  power.  Sadduceeism  in  its  "Christian"  as- 
pect is  the  liberal  current  so  strong  in  our  day,  the  new 
theology  which  puts  supernaturalism  out  of  the  way,  the 
higher  critics  who  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  begin- 
ning with  the  denial  of  the  written  Word  and  rapidly  ending 
with  the  denial  of  the  living  Word.     And  these  two  great 


40 

parts  of  Christendom,  modern  Phariseeism  and  Sadduceeism 
are  opposing  the  Person  and  the  Work  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  day  is  not  far  off  when  there  will  be  a  great 
union  of  Christendom,  a  union  which  will  take  in  the  most 
ritualistic  and  the  most  liberal,  a  union  which  will  also  in- 
clude the  reform  Jew  and  which  will  aim  at  a  universal 
religion  founded  upon  that  anti-Christian  doctrine  of  ua 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  Brotherhood  of  men."  All  this  is 
seen  approaching  by  the  modern  drift  of  things  throughout 
Christendom.  This  union  to  come  will  be  upon  the  ground 
of  opposing  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
atonement  He  made  on  the  Cross.  That  coming  union  will 
be  "the  devil's  millennium."  When  the  Lord -Jesus  Christ 
comes  the  second  time  He  will  fhid  that  monstrosity  fully 
developed  in  the  earth. 

And  thus  they  came  asking  a  sign  out  of  Heaven.  Before 
it  was  only  "asking  a  sign  of  Him."  But  now  it  was  to  be 
a  sign  out  of  Heaven.  Perhaps  the  Sadducees  had  asked 
this  and  the  Pharisees  were  well  satisfied.  He  had  done 
many  signs  among  them  and  He  Himself,  God  manifested 
in  the  flesh,  was  the  Sign,  and  now  they  desire  a  sign. 
Would  they  have  believed  if  He  had  given  them  a  sign? 
Supposing  Lie  had  with  His  omnipotent  power  opened  the 
Heavens  and  shown  out  of  Heaven  with  the  rays  of  glory; 
what  would  have  been  the  effect  upon  their  unbelieving 
hearts?  Would  they  have  bowed  in  worship  before  Llim? 
We  believe  not.  The  Sadducees,  with  a  sneer,  would  have 
explained  it  as  a  phenomenon  of  nature.  They  do  it  so  now. 
During  a  visit  to  California  a  brother  told  us  how  the  lead- 
ing preacher  of  a  certain  city,  a  "Congregationalism"  had 
told  his  hearers  that  it  was  a  stroke  of  lightning  which  fell 
upon  the  sacrifice  of  Elijah  on  Mt.  Carmel.  And  the  Phari- 
sees would  have  only  blasphemed  the  more.     They  would 


41 

have  repeated  their  previous  blasphemy  in  saying  that  the 
sign  was  given  through  Beelzebub's  power.  Indeed,  the 
ritualistic,  Jewish  fanatic  believes  to  this  day  that  our  Lord 
did  His  miracles  through  the  mysterious  and  unlawful  use 
of  the  Holy  Name.  A  sign  out  of  Heaven !  Infidelity  still 
demands  it  occasionally  through  its  disciples.  "If  some  one 
came  back  from  the  'other  world'  we  would  believe,"  persons 
have  often  told  us.  But  would  they  believe?  "If  they  hear 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  not  even  if  one  rise  from  the 
dead  will  they  be  persuaded"  (Luke  XVL31).  That  awful 
delusion  "Spiritualism"  with  its  satanic  abominations  has 
for  a  bait  that  ridiculous  assertion,  "the  evidence  of  a  future 
life,  the  demonstration  and  sign  of  a  hereafter,"  and  many 
have  been  ensnared  by  these  demon  doctrines.  No  signs 
any  more;  the  Sign  of  all  signs  has  come,  Christ  Himself. 
But  a  sign  will  yet  come,  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  fol- 
lowed by  the  Manifestation  of  Himself  out  of  Heaven.  Of 
this  we  shall  hear  more  in  the  closing  verses  of  this  chanter. 

"But  He  answering  said  to  them,  When  evening  is  come, 
ye  say,  Fine  weather,  for  the  sky  is  red ;  and  in  the  morning, 
A  storm  to-day,  for  the  sky  is  red  and  lowering;  ye  know 
how  to  discern  the  face  of  the  sky,  but  ye  cannot  the  signs 
of  the  times.  A  wicked  and  adulterous  generation  seeks 
after  a  sign,  and  a  sign  shall  not  be  given  to  it,  save  the 
sign  of  Jonas.   And  He  left  them  and  went  away"  (v.  2-4). 

They  understood  the  signs  of  nature,  the  warnings  of  the 
coming  storm  and  the  harbingers  of  a  beautiful  day.  The 
Jews  in  general  closely  observed  the  seasons  and  signs  in 
nature.*     All  the  changes  in  nature  they  observed,  but  the 


*"In  the  going  out  of  the  last  day  of  the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  all 
observed  the  rising  of  the  smoke.  If  the  smoke  bended  northward, 
the  poor  rejoiced,  but  the  rich  were  troubled;  because  there  would 
be  much  rain  the  following  year  and  the  fruits  would  be  corrupted ; 


4* 

signs  of  the  times  they  did  not  discern.  They  were  blinded 
to  these.  If  their  eyes  had  been  open  they  would  surely 
have  known  that  a  great  change  of  seasons  in  another  realm 
than  nature  had  come.  They  could  have  seen  the  evidences 
of  a  fast  approaching  judgment  upon  the  apostate  nation  and 
likewise  the  blessed  evidences  of  the  visitation  from  on  High, 
by  the  Presence  of  the  Lord,  which  had  taken  place. 

And  is  professing  Christendom  less  blind  ?  Alas ;  almost 
everything  is  discerned  and  studied,  the  records  of  the  past, 
the  history  of  Christendom,  everything  else  except  the  signs 
of  the  times.  This  strange,  unscriptural  optimism,  by  which 
Christendom  closes  wilfully  the  eyes,  so  as  not  to  see  the 
signs  of  an  approaching  crisis,  this  false  cry  of  "Peace  and 
Safety,"  is  indeed  blindness  as  great,  perhaps  greater,  than 
the  blindness  of  those  who  asked  a  sign  of  the  Lord. 

But  thanks  be  to  God,  not  all  are  blinded,  but  many  do 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times  and  know  "the  morning  Com- 
eth, but  also  the  night." 

They  were  "a  wicked  and  adulterous  generation;"  this 
solved  the  whole  problem  why  they  could  not  discern  the 
signs  of  the  times.  The  sign  of  the  Prophet  Jonas  was  to 
be  the  only  sign  they  were  to  receive  and  that  refers  us  to 
the  death  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord. 

"He  left  them  and  departed."  Significant  words  as  well 
as  a  symbolical  action  once  more. 

"And  when  His  disciples  were  come  to  the  other  side, 
they  had  forgotten  to  take  bread.  And  Jesus  said  to  them. 
See  and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Saddu- 
cees.    And  they  reasoned  among  themselves,  saying,  Because 


if  it  bended  southward,  the  poor  grieved  and  the  rich  rejoiced,  for 
there  would  be  fewer  rains  that  year,  and  the  fruit  would  be  sound ; 
if  eastward,  all  rejoiced;  if  westward,  all  were  troubled."  From 
Talmud,  Bal.  Ioma— Horae  Hcbraeicae. 


43 

we  have  taken  no  bread.  And  Jesus  knowing  said,  Why 
reason  ye  among  yourselves,  O  ye  of  little  faith,  because  ye 
have  taken  no  bread?  Do  ye  not  yet  understand  nor  re- 
member the  five  loaves  of  the  five  thousand,  and  how  manv 
hand  baskets  ye  took  up?  nor  the  seven  loaves  of  the  four 
thousand,  and  how  many  baskets  ye  took  up?  How  do  ye 
not  understand  that  it  was  not  concerning  bread  I  said  to 
you,  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees? 
Then  they  comprehended  that  He  did  not  speak  to  them  to 
beware  of  the  leaven  of  bread  but  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees"  (verses  5-12).  Here  the  slow- 
ness of  heart  and  the  unbelief  of  the  disciples  stands  ex- 
posed. The  Lord  turns  to  His  own,  right  after  He  had 
turned  His  back  upon  these  enemies,  and  He  warns  now  that 
even  His  disciples,  believers,  are  to  beware  of  the  terrible 
leaven  of  Ritualism  and  Rationalism.  How  significant  that 
after  He  lefttthe  offspring  of  vipers  and  before  He  unfolds 
the  truths  concerning  the  church  which  was  to  be  built, 
He  warns  to  beware  of  the  leaven  and  its  pernicious  work 
and  effect.  At  no  time  perhaps  is  this  warning  to  be 
heeded  so  much  as  in  the  times  we  live. 

But  they  understood  Him  not.  They  thought  of  the 
bread  which  perishes  and  even  then  unbelief  was  mixed 
with  it.  Instead  of  being  occupied  with  Christ  Himself 
and  spiritual  things  they  minded  earthly  things  and  so  He 
had  to  tell  them  in  plain  words  that  Pie  did  not  speak  of 
the  leaven  of  bread,  but  of  that  which  leaven  typifies,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees. 

What  follows  now  after  the  warning  words  of  our  Lord 
is  one  of  the  most  important  sections  of  this  Gospel.  Around 
the  contents  of  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  chapter 
cluster  indeed  the  most  vital  and  solemn  doctrines.  We 
approach,  therefore,  the  exposition  of  this  part  with  much 
prayer,  that  His  Word  may  be  made  very  plain  to  every 


44 

reader  and  all  may  learn  the  lessons  which  are  put  before  us. 

We  find  the  Lord  and  His  disciples  in  Caesarea-Philippi, 
and  there  He  asks  His  disciples  what  men  say  concerning 
Himself.  After  the  disciples  had  answered  He  turns  to 
them  with  the  same  question  and  Simon  Peter  gives  that 
wonderful  answer  upon  which  the  Lord  announces  the  fact 
of  the  future  building  of  His  church,  as  well  as  His  com- 
ing suffering,  death  and  resurrection.  Before  we  begin  the 
study  of  these  events  in  detail  we  wish  to  say  that  only  in 
Matthew  do  we  find  the  full  answer  to  Peter's  confession 
and  the  fact  brought  out  that  the  Lord  is  to  have  a  church. 
The  other  Gospel  records  do  not  mention  these  words  at  all. 
The  Holy  Spirit  put  them  here  in  this  dispensational  Gos- 
pel because  there  it  is  where  they  belong.  He,  as  the  writer 
of  this  Gospel,  is  like  a  goldsmith  who  has  numerous 
precious  stones  and  pearls,  each  a  costly  gem  in  itself,  and 
forms  them  in  a  perfect  chain.  He  arranges  all  in  His 
divine  order,  in  perfect  beauty,  to  work  out  and  show  forth 
the  perfection  and  worth  of  the  Lord.  And  so  He  put 
the  events  before  us  into  the  very  heart  of  the  Gospel  of 
the  King. 

"But  when  Jesus  was  come  into  the  parts  of  Caesarea-Phil- 
ippi, He  demanded  of  His  disciples,  saying,  Who  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am?  And  they  said,  Some, 
John  the  Baptist ;  and  others  Elias ;  and  others,  again,  Jere- 
mias,  or  one  of  the  prophets"  (verses  14,  15). 

It  is  significant  that  this  takes  place  in  Caesarea-Philippi. 
It  is  on  Gentile  ground,  so  to  speak,  where  it  happens  and 
where  on  the  one  hand  it  is  demonstrated  once  more  that 
His  own  had  not  received  Him ;  and  on  the  other,  He  is 
truly  confessed  and  His  revelation  concerning  the  church  is 
made  known. 

In  putting  the  question  to  His  disciples,  "Who  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am?"  He  knew,  of  course,  per- 


45 

fectly  well  what  men  said  of  Him,  for  He  knows  all  things. 
Nor  does  He  include  in  this  question  those  proud  and  evil 
Pharisees  with  their  blasphemies,  but  He  means  the  multi- 
tudes who  had  followed  Him,  the  men  who  had  listened  to 
His  words  and  who  had  seen  His  miracles.  The  answer 
they  give  Him,  the  echo  of  the  different  voices  in  Israel, 
proves  only  too  well  that  they  knew  Him  not.  John  the 
Baptist,  Elias,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets,  these  were 
the  estimates  of  Him  who  is  God  manifested  in  the  flesh. 
And  is  not  this  yet  the  burning  and  important  question, 
"Who  is  He?  What  think  ye  of  Christ?"  It  is  still  so,  and 
the  attacks  of  the  enemy  are  ever  aimed  at  the  person  of 
the  Lord.  The  answer  is  a  manifestation  of  the  unbelief 
of  His  earthly  people  Israel,  and  this  unbelief  which  became 
more  and  more  evident  indicated  the  setting  aside  of  Israel. 
So  it  is  likewise  at  the  end  of  this  Christian  age.  The 
ever  increasing  denial  of  the  Deity  of  Christ  and  of  His 
Glory,  as  it  is  going  on  in  that  which  claims  His  name, 
Christendom,  is  the  forerunner  of  judgment.  (2  Pet.  ii.) 
But  now  the  Lord  turns  to  His  own.  "He  says  to  them, 
But  ye,  who  do  ye  say  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon  Peter  an- 
swering, said  to  Him,  Thcu  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God."  The  question  was  addressed  to  the  disciples, 
but  Peter  answers  as  the  representative  of  the  disciples, 
and  is  also  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Father,  whose  revela- 
tion has  come  to  his  heart.  But  what  does  this  confession 
mean  and  what  does  it  all  include?  It  includes  more  than 
the  prophetic  statements  contained  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  concerning  the  Deity  of  the  Messiah,  that  He 
is  the  Mighty  God,  Immanuel.  It  is  more  than  the  expres- 
sion of  faith  in  the  prophecies  and  the  fulfilment  of  them 
in  the  person  of  Him  who  was  standing  in  their  midst.  The 
confession  is  personal  faith  in  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,  and  as  such  He  had  been  revealed  unto  Peter 


46 

by  the  Father,  and  Peter,  knowing  Him  as  the  eternal  life, 
realizing  Him  as  the  one  who  hath  life  and  who  imparts 
life,  gives  utterance  to  it.  The  confession  goes  beyond  the 
cross  and  the  grave  and  shows  forth  Christ  the  Son  of  God 
in  resurrection,  though  Peter  had  not  the  full  grasp  of  this 
when  he  spoke.  It  includes  all  that,  realized  in  personal 
faith,  of  which  the  Lord  speaks  of  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  "For 
even  as  the  Father  has  life  in  Himself,  so  He  has  given  to 
the  Son  also  to  have  life  in  Himself,"  *  *  *  and  that 
which  precedes  this  statement  in  John  v,  "Verily,  verily  I 
say  unto  you,  that  an  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the 
dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that 
have  heard  shall  live."  But  all  is,  of  course,  in  anticipation 
of  His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  as  we  read  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  "marked  out  Son  of  God  in  power,  according 
to  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by  resurrection  of  the  dead,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord"  (Rom.  1:4). 

And  thus  Peter's  confession  includes  all  upon  which  per- 
sonal faith  in  the  Son  of  God  rests.  The  first  Epistle  Peter 
wrote  by  the  Spirit  of  God  shows  forth  the  word  "living'' 
in  connection  with  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  There  we 
read  of  "a  living  hope  through  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  among  the  dead,"  and  "the  living  and  abiding 
Word  of  God,"  and  the  Lord  is  termed  "a  living  Stone," 
while  believers  are  "living  stones."  The  confession  of  Him 
by  Peter,  through  the  Father's  revelation,  is  then  something 
altogether  new.  It  denotes  a  new  departure  and  is  the  very 
opposite  from  Israel's  unbelief.  How  it  must  have  delighted 
His  heart,  when  for  the  first  time  the  full  truth  concerning 
Himself  comes  forth  from  human  lips  as  the  result  of  divine 
revelation!  And  now  He  is  ready  and  free  to  give  as  the 
Son  of  the  living  God  a  new  revelation.  He  is  now  giving  a 
glimpse  of  what  is  going  to  be  and  He  speaks  of  that  mystery 
hidden  in  former  ages,  the  church  or  assembly,  which  He 
calls  "My  church." 


47 

"And  Jesus  answering  said  to  him,  Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Barjona,  for  flesh  and  blood  has  not  revealed  it  to 
thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  the  heavens.  And  I,  also,  I 
say  unto  thee  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  church  (assembly),  and  hades'  gates  shall  not 
prevail  against  it"   (verses  17,  18). 

The  blessedness  of  Peter  is  announced  first,  a  blessedness 
which  is  equally  upon  each  sinner  who  believes  in  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  "Bar  Jona,"  as  the  Lord 
calls  Simon,  means  "son  of  a  dove,"  and  the  dove  is  the 
emblem  and  type  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Flesh  and  blood  could 
not  produce  such  a  revelation  and  such  faith,  it  was  the  work 
of  the  Father;  and  upon  this  He,  the  Son,  speaks,  "/  also,  / 
say  unto  thee     *     *     *  So  in  the  event  before  us  we 

have  the  Father  mentioned  as  well  as  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

With  His  own  divine  authority  the  Lord  now  speaks  to 
Simon.  Simon  Bar  Jona  receives  a  new  name.  Thou  art 
Peter.  The  Greek  word  Petros  means  "a  stone ;"  and  then 
the  Lord  gives  the  declaration  of  the  building  of  His  as- 
sembly upon  this  rock.  The  new  revelation  is  concerning 
His  church.  The  word  "ecclesia"  is  found  here  for  the 
first  time  in  the  Bible.  It  means  literally  "to  call  out,"  and 
denotes  an  assembly  of  persons.  It  would  be  much  better 
if  the  word  assembly  could  be  substituted  for  the  word 
"church,"  as  that  term  is  so  much  misused.  By  speaking 
of  "my  church"  the  Lord  indicates  what  he  is  going  to  do 
with  those  who,  like  Peter,  with  a  God-given  faith,  confess 
Him  as  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  They  are  to  form  His 
church,  one  great  assembly. 

This  passage  containing  the  word  "church"  for  the  first 
time,  and  the  Lord  intimating  that  it  is  still  a  thing  of  the 
future,  should  be  sufficient  in  itself  to  clear  up  all  the  un- 
scriptural  views  held  and  taught  throughout  Christendom 
about  the  "church." 


48 

The  Lord's  speaking  of  the  church  as  to  be  built  upon 
this  rock  makes  it  clear  that  there  was  no  church  in  exist- 
ence up  to  that  time.  It  is  therefore  all  wrong  to  speak, 
as  it  is  done  so  often,  of  the  Old  Testament  church. 
There  was  no  such  institution  in  Old  Testament  times.  It 
is  altogether  unknown  on  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testament 
prophetic  Word.  There  are,  of  course,  types  which 
indicate  that  a  church  was  to  be  called  into  existence  and 
which  we  now  understand  after  God's  hidden  secret  has 
been  made  known.  We  remember  some  years  ago,  after 
giving  an  address  on  the  church,  how  a  number  of  brethren 
took  exception  to  our  statement  that  there  was  no  church  in 
the  Old  Testament.  The  argument  they  brought  was  from 
Stephen's  address  in  Acts  vii,  where  it  speaks  of  "the  church 
in  the  wilderness,"  and  because  this  referred  to  Israel  these 
brethren  took  it  for  granted  that  Israel  was  the  church  of 
Christ  in  the  wilderness.  What  havoc  and  confusion  such 
a  view  produces  and  leads  to !  All  the  sad  conditions  about 
us  in  Christendom  originate  from  the  prevailing  ignorance 
of  what  the  church  is.  The  miserable  method  of  applying 
promises  made  to  God's  earthly  people  Israel  to  the  church, 
and  forcing  the  fulfilment  of  them  into  this  present  age, 
has  its  starting  point  from  the  same  misconception. 

Now  if  the  term  "church  in  the  wilderness"  is  mentioned 
in  the  Book  of  Acts,  it  simply  means  "a  congregation,  an 
assembly  of  people  in  the  wilderness,"  and  such  was  Israel. 
The  word  "ecclesia"  church  is  likewise  used  in  Acts  xix:32. 
The  mob  there  is  called  "ecclesia,"  but,  unlike  Acts  vii  138, 
the  translators  used  the  word  assembly  instead  of  "church." 

However,  the  emphasis  here  is  upon  the  word  "my"  He 
is  going  to  have  an  assembly  of  people,  a  church ;  this  out- 
called  people  is  for  Himself.  The  formation  of  His  assem- 
bly could  only  begin  after  the  work  of  redemption  had  been 
accomplished.     He  had  first  to  suffer  and  die,  to  be  raised 


49 

from  the  dead  and  by  it  become  Lord  and  Christ,  to  be  re- 
ceived up  into  Glory  and  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  down,  ere  the 
building  of  His  assembly  could  begin.  Therefore  He  says 
here,  "I  will  build  my  church ;"  not  I  am  building  it  now,  or 
it  has  been  building  since  Adam's  day,  but  "I  will  build." 
Get  this  clearly  settled  in  your  mind  and  the  fuller  revela- 
tion about  the  church,  the  body  and  bride  of  Christ,  her 
heavenly  calling,  heavenly  relationship,  heavenly  hope  and 
heavenly  destiny,  will  soon  be  understood.  And  the  gates 
of  hades,  death,  cannot  prevail  against  it  because  He  whose 
is  the  church  and  who  builds  it  has  prevailed  over  death 
and  has  annulled  him,  who  has  the  power  of  death,  that  is 
the  devil. 

This  fuller  revelation  we  do  not  find  here.  This  is  not 
the  place  for  it.  Nor  do  we  find  the  full  truth  concerning 
the  church  revealed  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  If  Peter  were 
the  rock,  a  statement  we  shall  follow  closely,  the  rock  upon 
which  the  church  is  built,  we  could  surely  expect  that  on 
that  wonderful  day,  when  the  Spirit  was  poured  out,  Peter 
in  his  preaching  would  refer  to  himself  and  to  the  church. 
But  he  uses  the  word  "church"  not  once  in  his  address. 
When  at  last  all  is  to  be  brought  out  and  that  mystery 
hidden  in  former  ages  is  to  be  made  known,  the  Lord  does 
not  commit  these  truths  at  all  to  Peter,  but  he  chooses  an- 
other instrument  to  whom  He  intrusts  Llis  secrets,  Paul, 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  Through  Paul  the  full  revela- 
tion of  the  assembly,  the  one  body,  is  given. 

As  it  is  so  well  known,  Roman  Catholicism  founds  upon 
the  Lord's  words  to  Peter  the  assertion  of  Peter's  suprem- 
acy, and  as  an  outflow  from  this  the  Papacy.  Peter,  accord- 
ing to  the  poor  Romanist,  is  the  stone  upon  which  the 
church  is  built,  and  the  infallibility  of  the  church  is  claimed 
from  the  words  "hades'  gate  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

What  then  does  the  Lord  mean  when  He  says,  "Thou  art 


50 

Peter  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build  my  assembly?"  He 
did  not  mean  Peter  or  He  would  have  said  "upon  thee  will 
I  build  my  church."  The  word  Peter — petros — means  a 
part  of  a  rock,  that  is  a  stone.  When  the  Lord  says  upon 
what  He  is  going  to  build  His  church,  He  no  longer  speaks 
of  petros,  a  stone,  but  he  uses  the  word  petra,  which  means 
a  rock,  out  of  which  the  petros,  the  stone,  is  hewn.  The 
word  petra,  rock,  He  uses  for  the  first  time  in  Matt. 
vii:24,  25.  The  house  there  is  built  upon  a  petra,  a  rock, 
and  cannot  fall,  and  this  rock  is  He  Himself.  "This  rock" 
upon  which  the  assembly  is  built  is  "Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God"  as  confessed  by  Peter. 

But  why  this  peculiar  use  of  petros  and  petra — a  part  of 
a  rock  and  the  rock?  Ah,  it  brings  out  the  most  precious 
truth  that  Peter  and  every  true  believer  in  possession  of 
eternal  life,  this  life  imparted,  is  associated  with  Him,  is  a 
part  of  Him,  for  He  is  the  Eternal  Life. 

Let  Peter  answer  from  the  God-breathed  words  of  his 
first  Epistle,  "To  whom  (Christ)  coming,  a  living  stone, 
cast  away  indeed  as  worthless  by  men,  but  with  God  chosen, 
precious,  yourselves  also,  as  living  stones,  are  built  up  a 
spiritual  house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  spiritual  sacrifices 
acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ"  (1  Pet.  ii:4-6).  Here 
is  the  same  relation  of  stone  and  stones,  and  Peter  himself 
settles  the  question  of  who  the  stone  is — not  he,  but  Christ — 
and  Peter,  like  every  other  true  believer,  is  but  a  living  stone 
built  upon  Himself.  It  would  take  us  too  far  to  look  to  the 
Messianic  prophecy  in  Isaiah  xxviii:i6,  the  basis  of  Peter's 
words. 

But  the  Lord  has  more  to  say  to  Peter.  "And  I  will  give 
to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens ;  and  what- 
soever thou  mayest  bind  upon  the  earth  shall  be  bound  in  th" 
heavens;  and  whatsoever  thou  mayest  loose  on  the  earth, 
shall  be  loosed  in  the  heavens"  (verse  19). 


5i 

These  words  have  been  very  grossly  misapplied  and  the 
most  abominable  doctrines  have  been  built  upon  it.  It  is 
indeed  strange  that  but  few  Christian  believers  are  clear 
about  their  meaning.  From  these  words  to  Peter  the  very 
ridiculous,  Christ  and  the  Gospel  dishonoring  picture  is 
drawn,  which  represents  Peter  with  keys  in  his  hands  guard- 
ing the  entrance  of  heaven,  and  that  it  is  left  to  him,  who 
shall  be  admitted  and  who  rejected.  The  Lord  did  not  say 
the  keys  to  heaven  were  given  to  him,  nor  did  he  say  that 
the  keys  to  the  church  were  in  his  hands  and  with  the  loosing 
in  the  earth  and  loosing  in  heaven  the  Lord  never  meant 
that  the  eternal  destiny  of  one  single  soul  was  left  in  Peter's 
hands. 

Let  us  see  that  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens 
were  given  to  him.  The  Kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  not 
heaven  nor  is  it  the  church,  and  upon  this  fact  rests  the  true 
meaning  of  the  words  before  us.  Notice  the  place  Peter  has 
in  the  church,  not  different  from  the  place  every  believer 
holds  in  the  assembly  through  the  Grace  of  God,  is  given 
first  and  when  the  Lord  speaks  of  giving  him  keys  of  the 
Kingdom  of  the  heavens,  He  confers  upon  him  authority 
for  actions  not  in  the  church,  but  in  the  Kingdom  of  the 
heavens.  It  is  therefore  wrong  to  say  that  the  Lord  gave 
the  keys  of  the  church  to  Peter,  except  one  assumes  (which 
is  so  often  done)  that  the  church  and  the  Kingdom  are 
identical. 

We  have  learned  before  (Matt,  xiii)  what  we  have  to 
understand  by  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens  in  its  present 
form.  It  embraces  the  entire  sphere  of  Christian  profession, 
all  Christendom.  Every  one  who  confesses  the  name  of 
Christ  is  in  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens,  though  that  one 
may  not  at  all  be  a  true  believer.  This  Kingdom  of  the 
heavens  is  in  existence  in  the  earth  during  the  absence  of 


52 

the  King ;  it  is  committed  into  the  hands  of  men,  and  it  is  to 
be  administered  by  men.  Now,  if  the  Lord  tells  Peter  that 
He  will  give  to  him  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens, 
He  puts  the  administration  of  the  Kingdom  into  his  hands. 
The  question  arises  next,  Did  the  Lord  assign  to  Peter  a 
special  place  distinct  from  the  other  disciples?  Are  the  keys 
peculiar  to  Peter  and  only  to  Peter?  Was  Peter  to  have 
these  keys  exclusively?     These  are  important  questions. 

It  is  easily  proven  that  the  Lcrd  did  not  mean  to  single 
out  Peter  and  give  to  him  a  work  distinct  from  the  other 
disciples,  nor  did  he  give  him  a  peculiar  place  or  one  of 
supremacy. 

The  Lord  adds  immediately  after  the  declaration  that  He 
will  give  to  him  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens — 
"and  whatsoever  thou  mayest  bind  en  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven,  etc."  Now,  if  we  turn  to  the  eighteenth  chapter 
of  this  Gospel  (verse  18)  we  find  that  the  Lord  repeats  this 
very  commission  and  He  addresses  it  no  longer  to  Peter  but 
to  the  zvlwlc  company  of  disciples.  Peter  must  be  looked 
upon  in  the  whole  passage  as  the  representative  of  the  disci- 
ples and  as  such  of  all  true  believers.  If  the  Lord  calls 
him  "a  stone,"  He  certainly  did  not  mean  him  alone,  but 
every  one  who  believes  is  a  living  stone,  and  so  when  He 
speaks  of  the  keys  and  the  binding  and  loosing  He  com- 
mits this  authority  not  upon  Peter  exclusively,  but  upon 
every  disciple,  and  as  true  believers  form  His  assembly, 
upon  the  assembly  as  such. 

It  is  generally  taugnt  that  Peter  used  the  keys  on  the. day 
of  Pentecost,  and  when  he  preached  to  Cornelius  and  his 
household  (Acts  x).  It  is  assumed  that  the  Lord  gave  this 
commission  to  him  exclusively  and  that  the  words  of  the 
Lord  were  fulfilled  at  these  occasions.  However,  this  can- 
not be  proven  from  the  Scriptures,  nor  does  Peter  refer  to 


53 

any  special  authority  in  preaching  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
or  in  the  house  of  Cornelius.* 

But  what  are  the  keys?  The  answer  is,  Knowledge 
(teaching  and  preaching)  and  Baptizing.  "Go  ye  therefore 
and  teach  (disciple)  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost'' 
(Matt.  xxviii:i2).  These  are  the  doors  of  entering  into 
the  professing  sphere  of  Christendom,  that  is  the  Kingdom 
of  the  heavens.  These  keys  are  still  used.  The  binding 
and  loosing  refers  only  to  discipline  on  the  earth.  It  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  remission  of  sins  or  eternal 
salvation.  We  pass  this  over  at  present,  but  shall  enter 
into  it  more  fully  when  we  reach  the  eighteenth  chapter, 
where  we  find  these  words  in  connection  with  the  statement, 
"where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  unto  My  Name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 


*After  all  that  Rome  and  ritualism  and  even  more  evangelical 
systems  have  found  in  these  keys  it  may  be  hard  to  credit  such  a 
view  as  this;  and  with  many  it  has  been  customary  to  point  to  Peter's 
eminent  place  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  in  opening  the  kingdom  to 
the  Jews,  as  afterwards  in  the  person  of  Cornelius  to  the  Gentiles. 
But  an  eminent  place  may  be  fully  allowed  him  in  this  way,  while 
yet  we  deny  him  an  exclusive  place ;  and,  in  fact,  we  cannot  exclude 
others  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  nor  even  at  Caesarea  allow  that  this 
was  the  sole  use  of  the  key  in  relation  to  the  Gentiles,  any  more  than 
the  use  of  another  key  than  that  which  before  had  opened  the  king- 
dom to  the  Jews.  One  act  did  surely  not  exhaust  the  service  of  the 
key,  nor  to  open  the  door  twice  require  two  keys.  Can  it  be  thought 
that  the  door  once  opened  simply  remained  open,  and  needed  no 
more  opening?  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  it  can  be  conclusively 
shown  that  the  administration  of  the  kingdom,  which  these  keys 
stand  for,  is  not  yet  over,  is  not  at  all  come  to  an  end  in  one  initial 
authoritative  act.  Men  still  receive  and  are  received  in;  and  if  the 
power  of  the  keys  speaks  of  admission  into  the  kingdom,  and  the 
kingdom  be  the  sphere  of  discipleship,  then  the  key  is  in  fact  but  au- 
thority to  disciple. — Numerical  Bible, 


54 

"Then  He  enjoined  on  His  disciples  that  they  should  say 
to  no  man  that  He  was  the  Christ"  (verse  20)0  As  the 
promised  Messiah  His  people  had  rejected  Him;  He  is  now 
to  go  on  towards  Jerusalem  to  be  delivered  up  and  then 
raised  from  the  dead  to  be  announced  as  Lord  and  Christ. 
Therefore  He  enjoined  His  disciples  not  to  publish  Him  as 
the  Christ. 

And  now  after  the  Lord  had  made  known  for  the  first 
time,  upon  Peter's  confession,  the  future  building  of  His 
assembly,  He  speaks  likewise  for  the  first  time  in  this  Gospel 
of  His  rejection,  death  and  resurrection.  "From  that  time 
Jesus  began  to  shew  to  His  disciples  that  He  must  go  away 
to  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many  things  from  the  elders  and 
chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  be  killed,  and  the  third  day  be 
raised"  (verse  21). 

In  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  the  fact  was  brought  out 
that  Israel  had  no  heart  for  Him  and  His  own  knew  Him 
not  nor  would  they  receive  Him.  \\  nat  they  would  do  to 
Him  He  now  reveals.  It  was  more  than  mere  rejection  cf 
His  Person  and  His  words.  He  would  have  to  suffer  many 
things  from  the  hands  of  the  leaders  of  the  nation  and  be 
killed ;  after  death  His  resurrection.  And  when  this  solemn 
announcement  came  from  His  blessed  lips  He  knew  the 
full  meaning  of  what  was  included  in  "the  suffering  of 
many  things  and  be  killed."  He  knew  before  He  entered 
into  the  world  what  work  He  was  to  do.  "Wherefore  com- 
ing into  the  world  He  says,  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou 
wiliest  not ;  but  thou  hast  prepared  me  a  body.  Thou  took- 
est  no  pleasure  in  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices  for  sin. 
Then  I  said,  Lo,  I  come,  in  the  roll  of  the  bock  it  is  written 
of  me  to  do,  O  God,  thy  will"  (Heb.  x:^-y).  He  knew  the 
suffering,  for  His  own  Spirit  was  in  the  prophets  of  old, 
testifying  before  of  the  sufferings  which  belong  to  Christ 
(i  Pet.  i:ii).     He  began  then  to  speak  of  these  sufferings 


55 

to  His  disciples,  but  He  alone  knew  what  it  all  meant.  He 
had  entered  into  the  world  for  this  very  purpose  to  give 
His  life  and  as  the  Lamb  of  God  to  take  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.  We  must  also  lay  emphasis  upon  the  words 
"from  that  time  began  Jesus."  The  building  of  His  as- 
sembly and  His  suffering,  death  and  resurrection  are  closely 
connected.  The  beginning  of  the  assembly,  the  building  of 
the  same,  could  only  be  possible  after  the  redemptive  work 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  finished.  We  read  in  Genesis 
ii:22  how  the  helpmeet  of  the  first  Adam  was  made.  She 
was  taken  from  Adam's  side  while  he  slept.  She  was  built 
out  of  his  side.  It  is  that  well  known  and  blessed  type  of 
the  last  Adam  and  His  assembly,  Christ  and  the  church. 

No  sooner  had  the  last  word  of  the  announcement  of  His 
passion  fallen  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  than  the  enemy  is 
manifested,  attempting  to  keep  Him  from  going  to  the 
cross.  It  is  Peter  who  interrupts  Him.  "And  Peter  taking 
Him  began  to  rebuke  Him,  saying,  God  be  favorable  to 
thee,  Lord;  this  shall  in  no  wise  be  unto  thee"  (verse  22). 
The  same  Peter  who  had  uttered  that  glorious  confession, 
the  revelation  of  the  Father,  becomes  all  at  once  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  adversary.  He  had  not  been  asked  by  the  Lord 
what  he  thought  of  His  statement;  he  speaks  in  the  im- 
pulsiveness of  the  flesh,  as  a  natural  man.  Perhaps  the  con- 
ception of  Messiah's  kingdom,  His  glory  as  an  earthly  King 
in  which  He  as  a  Jew  with  his  fellow  disciples  so  strongly 
believed,  was  in  part  responsible  for  this  hasty  word,  and 
explains  why  he  became  so  readily  an  instrument  of  Satan. 
May  be  the  words  addressed  to  Peter  by  the  Lord,  the  giving 
of  a  new  name  and  the  commission,  lifted  up  Peter  and  gave 
him  a  spiritual  pride,  which  brought  on  his  hasty  action. 
The  way  he  acts  seems  to  indicate  this.  He  acts  in  an  as- 
tonishing forwardness.  He  takes  his  Lord  aside  and  then 
began  to  rebuke  Him.     The  Lord,  who  rebuked  the  winds 


56 

and  the  sea,  rebuked  by  His  creature !  What  ignorance  of 
the  person  of  the  Lord  and  what  failure  this  action  of  Peter 
reveals.  And  what  does  he  say  to  the  Lord?  He  desires 
that  God  should  be  favorable  unto  Him  by  keeping  Him 
from  such  a  fate.  But  only  through  His  sacrifical  death 
could  God's  favor  flow  forth  to  lost  men,  and  so  Peter  gives 
expression  to  the  very  endeavor  of  Satan,  who  would  have 
kept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  going  up  to  Jerusalem  to 
die  on  that  cross  of  shame. 

And  now  turning  round  to  Peter,  the  Lord  speaks:  "Get 
away  behind  Me,  Satan;  thou  art  an  offence  to  Me,  for  thy 
mind  is  not  on  the  things  that  are  of  God,  but  on  the  things 
that  are  of  men"  (verse  23).  The  Lord  recognizes 
the  enemy  behind  Peter's  words  and  He  addresses  that  un- 
seen one  in  almost  the  identical  words  He  had  used  upon 
yonder  mountain,  from  which  Satan  had  showed  Him  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world,  offering  the  same  to  Him.  We 
learned  from  the  fourth  chapter  in  the  Gospel,  from  the 
temptations  of  our  Lord  by  Satan,  what  the  aim  of  the 
enemy  was  with  every  one  of  these  temptations.  He  at- 
tempted to  keep  the  Lord  from  going  that  path  of  humilia- 
tion, of  obedience  unto  death,  unto  the  death  of  the  cross. 
Satan  knew  all  his  dreadful  power,  the  power  of  death, 
would  be  broken  and  his  complete  defeat  wrought  on  the 
cross,  and  to  keep  Him  frcm  going  there  was  his  aim.  Here 
is  a  blunt  attempt  of  Satan  through  Peter  to  hinder  the 
Lord  in  His  path. 

And  there  is  still  another  lesson  which  we  cannot  pass  by. 
We  read  in  the  Epistle  of  James  concerning  the  tongue, 
"Does  the  fountain,  out  of  the  same  opening,  pour  forth 
sweet  and  bitter?  Can,  my  brethren,  a  fig  produce  olives, 
or  a  vine  figs  ?"  Alas !  it  may  be  so  with  any  believer,  as  it 
was  with  Peter,  going  on  from  the  sweet  revelation  of  the 
Father  to  the  bitter  things  of  the  enemy  and  giving  expres- 


57 

sion  to  them ;  and  he  was  not  conscious  of  it.  "Thy  mind 
is  not  on  the  things  that  are  of  God."  What  a  word  this 
is  for  our  consideration !  As  soon  as  the  mind  ceases  to  be 
occupied  with  the  things  that  are  of  God,  and  we  turn  to  the 
things  that  are  of  men,  we  are  stepping  on  the  territory  of 
the  adversary.  ''For  the  rest,  brethren,  whatsoever  things 
are  noble,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  amiable,  whatsoever  things 
are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any  virtue  and  if  any  praise, 
think  on  these  things"  (Phil,  iv  :8,  9). 

"Then  Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  If  any  one  desires  to 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  me.  For  whosoever  shall  desire  to  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it;  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  find  it"   (verses  24,  25). 

These  words  are  addressed  to  the  disciples  and  not  to  un- 
believers. It  is  therefore  not  a  question  of  salvation.  We 
are  not  asked  to  deny  self  and  take  up  the  cross  in  order 
to  be  saved.  These  words  tell  us  that  the  way  the  Lord 
went  is  the  way  of  all  His  true  disciples.  He  states  in  a  few 
words  all  the  great  truths  of  the  association  of  the  believer 
with  the  Lord,  which  the  Holy  Spirit  brings  out  so  fully 
in  the  Epistles.  We  read  of  the  same  association  in  the  Gos- 
pel of  John,  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  corn 
of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abides  alone ;  but 
if  it  die,  it  bears  much  fruit.  He  that  loves  his  life  shall 
lose  it,  and  he  that  hates  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it 
to  life  eternal.  If  any  one  serve  me,  let  him  follow  me ; 
and  where  I  am  there  also  shall  be  my  servant"  (John 
xii  124-26) .  Of  course  there  is  an  immeasurable  difference 
between  Him  and  the  believer.  He  alone  could  drink  the 
cup,  and  yet  the  path  He  went  is  our  path.  In  the  third 
chapter  of  Joshua  we  read  of  the  passage  of  God's  people 
over  Jordan.  The  ark  of  the  covenant  led  the  way  and  all 
the  people  followed.    Between  the  ark  and  the  people,  how- 


ever,  was  maintained  the  space  of  two  thousand  cubits. 
And  yet  they  all  followed  after.  It  is  the  type  for  us.  He 
has  made  the  way  and  we  follow  Him.  "For  to  this  have  ye 
been  called ;  for  Christ  also  has  suffered  for  you,  leaving 
you  a  model  that  ye  should  follow  in  His  steps"  (i  Pet. 
ii:2i).  But  how  little  of  the  denial  of  self  and  the  losing 
of  the  life  is  known  in  these  days.  Many  are,  no  doubt, 
believers  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  but  do  they  follow  Him  ? 
Is  His  path  ours,  too  ?  It  is  not  only  possible  to  believe  in 
the  Lord  and  not  follow  Him,  but  it  is  the  most  common 
thing  we  see  to-day  about  us.  If  we  are  loyal  to  Him  in  a 
world  which  has  rejected  Him  and  which  is  unchanged,  we 
shall  share  His  rejection.  We  may  not  be  called  upon  in 
these  days  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  His  sake,  but  we  should 
be  willing  for  it,  should  it  become  again  a  test  of  following 
Him.  Surely  as  we  desire  to  follow  Him  and  He  is  before 
us,  we  shall  find  abundant  occasion  to  deny  ourselves  and 
take  up  our  cross.  In  the  degree  we  look  upon  Him,  our 
adorable  Lord,  and  He  is  the  object  of  our  affection,  in  that 
degree  shall  we  be  obedient  to  Him,  deny  self  and  take  up 
the  little  cross.  It  will  be  a  pleasure,  a  joy  and  a  blessing 
then.  As  the  martyrs  went  to  the  stake  with  singing  or 
faced  the  wild  animals  .with  holy  laughter  and  praises  on 
their  lips,  so  shall  we  praise  Him  for  the  little  suffering  with 
Him  in  these  evil  days.* 

"For  what  does  a  man  profit  if  he  should  gain  the  whole 
world  and  suffer  the  loss  of  his  soul?  or  what  shall  a  man 
give  in  exchange  for  his  soul?"  (verse  26).    What  solemn 


*"Take  up  his  cross.  These  words  are  not  to  be  understood  as 
meaning  that  we  should  choose  a  cross.  Begin  only  with  self-denial 
and  then  the  cross  will  come  of  itself.  He  says  'his  cross';  for 
He  does  not  teach  that  we  should  bear  the  identical  cross  which  He 
bore.  Everyone's  cross  has  been  prepared  according  to  the  measure 
of -each  one's  strength"  (x  Cor.  x:i3). — Martin  Luther  on  the  Gos- 
pels. 


59 

questions  these  are  !  And  who  could  answer  them  ?  Surely 
if  anything  is  taught  in  them  it  is  the  immense,  immeasur- 
able value  of  the  soul.  The  soul  is  immortal ;  if  it  were  not 
these  questions  would  be  unreasonable. 

The  denial  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  with  it  the 
teaching  of  man  dying  like  the  beast,  if  he  dies  without 
Christ,  is  one  of  Satan's  lies  which  has  gained  ground 
throughout  Christendom  in  these  last  days. 

The  last  verse  of  this  chapter  contains  another  revelation. 
"For  the  Son  of  Man  is  about  to  come  in  the  Glory  of  His 
Father  with  His  angels,  and  then  He  will  render  to  each 
according  to  his  doings.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  There  are 
some  of  those  standing  here  that  shall  not  taste  of  death  at 
all  until  they  shall  have  seen  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  His 
Kingdom"   (verses  27,  28). 

These  words  refer  to  His  second  coming,  His  coming  in 
power  and  in  glory.  They  have  puzzled  not  a  few  readers, 
and  all  kinds  of  spiritual  meaning  have  been  read  into  them. 
They  are,  however,  very  clear  if  we  read  at  once  the  first 
part  of  the  seventeenth  chapter,  where  we  find  six  days 
after  the  Lord  and  three  of  His  disciples  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration.  What  the  disciples  beheld  there  was  the 
type  of  His  glorious  second  coming  as  Son  of  Alan  in  His 
Kingdom.  Our  exposition  of  the  next  chapter  will  lead  us 
deeper  into  this  fact. 

The  sixteenth  chapter  has  brought  before  us  seven  reve- 
lations : 

1.  The  Rejection  of  the  Lord. 

2.  The  Confession  of  the  Lord  as  the  Christ  the  Son  of 
the  Living  God. 

3.  The  Building  of  His  Assembly. 

4.  The  Authority  of  His  Assembly. 

5.  The  Death  and  Resurrection  of  the  Lord. 

6.  The  Path  of  the  Disciple. 
j,     The  Return  of  the  Lord. 


6o 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  first  part  of  this  chapter  gives  us  the  record  of  the 
transfiguration  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  portion  before 
us  is  one  of  the  richest  in  the  entire  book  of  Matthew ;  so 
full  of  precious  teachings  and  suggestions  that  one  almost 
shrinks  from  attempting  an  exposition,  for  it  seems  impos- 
sible to  touch  on  all  the  phases  and  lessons  coming  from  this 
great  event. 

Let  us  remember  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  given  us  three 
accounts  of  the  transfiguration.  Besides  the  one  here  we 
have  one  in  Mark  and  in  Luke.  In  each,  special  points  of 
the  great  event  are  made  prominent  in  full  accord  with  the 
meaning  and  scope  of  the  three  Gospels.  We  find  no  record 
of  the  transfiguration  in  the  fourth  Gospel.  It  would  be 
out  of  place  in  that  Gospel,  for  John  is  the  instrument  to 
reveal  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  eternal  Life.  In 
Luke  we  find  that  something  is  said  which  is  not  found  in 
the  other  two  accounts.  We  read  there :  "And  as  He 
prayed  the  fashion  of  His  countenance  became  different  and 
His  raiment  white  and  effulgent."  The  Gospel  of  Luke  pre- 
sents our  Lord  as  Son  of  Man  and  we  read  there  often  that 
He  prayed,  and  thus  the  information  given  to  us  in  Luke  is 
in  full  accord  with  that  -Gospel.  In  Matthew  we  learn  some- 
thing which  is  only  reported  there,  namely,  that  His  face 
shone  as  the  sun.  The  importance  of  this  fact  we  shall  dis- 
cover in  the  course  of  the  exposition.  In  Mark  and  Luke 
the  voice  out  of  the  cloud  says,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son ; 
hear  Him" ;  but  in  Matthew  alone  we  read,  "This  is  my  be- 
loved Son,  in  whom  I  have  found  my  delight;  hear  Him." 


6l 

These  and  other  differences  are  the  mark  of  divine  inspira- 
tion ;  the  Holy  Spirit,  being  the  narrator  of  the 
event,  reports  the  occurrence  in  harmony  with  the 
purpose  of  each  one  of  these  Gospels. 

And  now  as  we  turn  to  the  divine  record  of  the  transfig- 
uration in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  we  desire  first  of  all  to 
quote  the  inspired  words  of  the  man  who  stands  out  so 
prominently  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  and  who  is  likewise 
one  of  the  witnesses  of  the  transfiguration ;  that  is  Peter. 
In  his  last  Epistle  we  read :  "For  we  have  not  made  known 
unto  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
following  cleverly  imagined  fables,  but  having  been  eye- 
witnesses of  His  majesty.  For  He  received  from  the  Father 
honor  and  glory,  such  a  voice  being  uttered  to  Him  by  the 
excellent  glory:  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  found 
my  delight  ;*  and  this  voice  we  heard  uttered  from  heaven, 
being  with  Him  in  the  holy  mountain.  And  we  have  the 
prophetic  Word  made  surer,  to  which  ye  do  well  taking 
heed  as  to  a  lamp  shining  in  an  obscure  place  until  the  day 
dawn  and  the  morning  star  arise  in  your  hearts"  (2  Pet. 
i:  16-20). 

That  Peter  refers  in  these  words  once  more  to  the  scene  of 
glory  on  that  mountain  top  which  his  eyes  beheld  long  ago 
needs  no  further  proof.  He  does  so  "knowing  that  the  put- 
ting off  of  my  tabernacle  is  speedily  to  take  place"   (verse 

14). 

We  learn  therefore  that  the  transfiguration  as  interpreted 
not  by  men  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  the  pattern  of  the 
power  and  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  wonder- 
ful scene  on  the  holy  mountain  of  which  Peter  had  been 
eye-witness  was  a  pattern  of  the  return  of  the  Lord, 
visibly  and  gloriously  to  the  earth  surrounded  by  His  saints. 


The  "Hear  Him"  is  here  omitted. 


62 

The  entire  Old  Testament  prophetic  word  speaks  of  this 
great  event,  and  for  this  reason  the  transfiguration  of  the 
Lord  is  a  confirmation  of  these  prophetic  predictions,  and 
more  than  that,  the  earnest  of  their  final  and  complete  ful- 
filment. We  have  the  prophetic  word  made  surer  in  the 
scene  on  the  holy  mountain,  for  in  the  transfiguration  we  be- 
hold that  which  prophet  after  prophet  had  declared. 

What  we  have  just  stated  is  a  most  important  key  to  the 
right  understanding  of  the  passage  before.  Let  us  call  to 
mind  again,  the  Holy  Spirit  tells  us  that  the  transfiguration 
is  the  pattern  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Now  this  should  silence  once  and  for  all  the  strange  inter- 
pretations which  are  made  of  the  last  verse  of  the  preceding 
chapter,  which  is,  by  the  unfortunate  division  of  these  chap- 
ters, wrested  from  its  true  place.  Some,  the  Lord  had  said, 
were  standing  with  Him  there  who  should  not  taste  death  at 
all  until  they  should  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  His  king- 
dom. The  favorite  expositions  are  that  the  Lord  meant  "the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,"  and  others  tell  us  "they  were  to 
see  the  Lord  coming  in  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel,"  etc. 

All  these  opinions  are  the  opinions  of  men.  Some  of 
those  standing  there  did  not  taste  death  until  they  saw  Him 
coming,  for  after  six  days  Peter,  James  and  John  beheld 
Him  in  His  power  and  Glory,  a  pattern  of  the  Son  of  Man 
coming  in  His  kingdom. 

''After  six  days." — Even  the  number  six  is  full  of  mean- 
ing as  the  number  "eight"  has  a  similar  meaning  in  Luke 
where  it  says,  "After  these  words,  about  eight  days."  The 
number  eight  is  the  number  of  resurrection,  and  as  the  Son 
of  Man  in  resurrection  He  appears  in  Luke ;  while  "six"  is 
man's  number,  the  number  signifying  the  days  of  work — 
after  six  days — after  work  and  man's  day  is  run  out,  the  day 
of  the  Lord,  the  kingdom.  And  with  Him  He  takes  Peter, 
and  James,  and  John  his  brother,  and  brings  them  into  a 


63 

high  mountain  apart.  The  mountain  may  have  been  Her- 
mon,  which  is  not  far  from  Csesarea  Philippi.  The  men 
who  were  later  with  Him  in  the  garden  in  that  awful  night 
scene,  when  they  slept,  while  He  prayed  and  His  sweat  be- 
came as  great  drops  of  blood,  falling  down  upon  the  earth, 
are  here  on  the  mountain  with  Him  to  witness  His  Glory. 
But  here,  too,  while  He  prayed  they  were  oppressed  with 
sleep  (Luke  ix:^2).  How  this  manifests  what  man  is  and 
how  it  brings  out  the  perfection  of  Himself !  The  fact  that 
the  disciples  were  oppressed  with  sleep  makes  it  evident  that 
the  transfiguration  must  have  been  at  night.  The  Lord  so 
often  spent  His  nights  in  prayer  and  came  down  in  the 
morning.  Blessed  type  of  His  presence  with  the  Father  now 
as  our  intercessor  and  advocate  and  His  coming  again. 

"And  He  was  transfigured  before  them.  And  His  face 
shone  as  the  sun  and  His  garments  became  white  as  the 
light"  (verse  2).  What  a  transformation  it  must  have  been  ! 
How  the  garment  of  light  and  glory  is  put  upon  Him  and 
rays  of  glory  shot  forth  from  His  person,  the  One  whom 
Pharisees  a  little  while  ago  had  blasphemed  and  who  had 
said,  "The  foxes  have  holes  and  the  birds  have  nests,  but  the 
Son  of  Man  has  not  where  to  lay  His  head."  The  One  who 
had  hidden  His  glory  beneath  the  form  of  a  servant  bursts 
forth  in  glory,  and  it  was  His  glory.  The  word  used  here 
in  the  original  for  "transfigured"  is  used  only  twice  besides 
in  this  passage.  We  find  it  in  Romans  xii  :2  and  2  Cor. 
iii:i8.  His  Grace  transforms  us  now,  and  by  and  bye  in 
resurrection  we  shall  be  transformed  according  to  the  same 
image — "conformed  to  the  image  of  His  Son,  so  that  He 
should  be  the  first  born  among  many  brethren."  We  shall 
be  like  Him  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  Thus  may  we, 
as  children  of  God,  look  upon  His  glory  here  and 
know  it  is  our  Glory.  Beloved!  look  upon  Him  and  rejoice, 
for  "when  the  Christ  is  manifested,  who  is  our  life,  then  shall 
ye  also  be  manifested  with  Him  in  glory." 


64 

And  His  face  shone  like  the  sun.  He  is  the  Sun,  the  Sun 
of  righteousness,  and  as  we  have  in  Matthew  the  dispensa- 
tional  side,  it  is  once  more  the  wisdom  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
put  this  description  here  and  omit  it  in  the  other  Gospels. 
The  sun  is  the  great  light  which  rules  the  day,  and  when 
the  sun  is  absent  night  rules.  He  does  not  shine  now  as 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  the  moon  only — the  type  of  the 
church — gives  her  faint  light ;  it  is  night.  But  day  will  come 
and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  rises  with  healing  in 
His  wings.  Then  He  the  Sun  cometh  forth  "as  a  bride- 
groom of  His  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a  strong  man  to 
run  a  race.  His  going  forth  is  from  the  end  of  the  heaven, 
and  His  circuit  unto  the  ends  of  it,  and  there  is  nothing 
hid  from  the  heat  thereof"  (Ps.  xix  15,  6).  Thus  shall  He 
come  again,  and  the  Sun  He  created  will  pale  before  Him 
in  His  wonderful  Glory. 

"And  lo,  Moses  and  Elias  appeared  to  them  talking  with 
Him."  Two  departed  saints  come  into  view  first 
of  all.  Moses,  the  representative  of  the  law,  one  who  had 
passed  through  death,  and  Elias,  standing  for  the  prophets, 
the  one  who  had  never  seen  death,  but  had  been  removed  in 
a  fiery  chariot,  appear  alongside  the  Lord.  We  may  well 
think  of  Him  as  standing  in  the  middle.  He  is  the  center  of 
the  Heavens  and  of  heavenly  beings.  In  the  Gospel  of  Luke 
we  read  that  Moses  and  Elias,  appearing  in  glory,  spoke  of 
His  departure  which  He  was  about  to  accomplish  in  Jeru- 
salem. Both  Law  and  Prophets  speak  of  His  suffering  and 
of  His  Glory  as  well.  He  the  one  in  the  middle  is  the  ful- 
filment of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets. 

Looked  upon  from  the  standpoint  of  a  pattern  of  His 
coming  into  His  kingdom,  Moses  is  the  type  of  those  saints 
who  died  in  Christ,  who  were  put  to  sleep  through  Jesus, 
and  whom  the  Lord  will  bring  with  Him  when  He  comes. 
Elias,  the  one  who  did  not  see  death,  who  was  caught  up 
from  the  earth,  is  the  type  of  those  believers  who  shall  not 


65 

sleep  but  be  changed  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye — caught  up 
to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  So  we  have  even  here  the  pre- 
cious revelation  in  i  Thess.  iv:  13-18  "made  surer."  When 
He  comes  He  will  bring  us  all  with  Him. 

And  of  course  Moses  and  Elias  were  known.  Their  in- 
dividuality was  not  swallowed  up  by  death  or  removal  from 
the  earth  without  death.  This  should  answer  definitely  the 
oft  made  inquiry,  shall  we  know  each  other  in  resurrection 
glory?  Of  course  we  will.  As  Moses  and  Elias  were  easily 
recognized  by  the  disciples,  so  shall  every  saint  be  recog- 
nized. What  joy  it  will  be  then  to  see  him  first  of  all  and 
to  be  with  Him,  whom  we  have  never  seen  and  whom  we 
shall  see  as  he  is,  the  Man  in  Glory.  What  joy  to  look  upon 
a  Paul,  John,  Peter  and  all  the  beloved  of  God!  Yes  we 
shall  know  each  other,  though  all  human,  earthly  relation- 
ship ceases  forever  in  resurrection. 

The  three  disciples  who  gazed  upon  this  glorious  scene 
typify  here  the  remnant  of  Israel,  those  who  in  the  night 
look  up  and  see  Him  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  Thus 
the  kingdom  scene  is  complete. 

And  Peter  answering  said  to  Jesus,  "Lord,  it  is  good  we 
should  be  here.  If  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here  three  taber- 
nacles ;  for  thee  one,  and  for  Moses  one,  and  one  for  Elias'' 
(verse  4). 

Poor  Peter !  What  a  failure  he  makes  of  it  again.  Once 
more  he  acts  as  spokesman  for  his  fellow  disciples  and  in- 
trudes himself  upon  the  scene  of  glory.  He  had  absolutely 
no  conception  of  what  all  this  meant.  He  had  of  course 
later  by  the  Holy  Spirit  come  down  from  heaven  and  open- 
ing the  eyes  of  his  heart*    But  what  was  the  harm  in  making 


*How  often  in  prayer  meetings  one  hears  requests  that  feelings  of 
joy  and  blessing  may  come  upon  the  meeting,  that  they  might  say 
"it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here— let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles." 
This  is  a  much  used  phrase  and  indicates  how  little  the  vision  is 
understood  by  Christian  people. 


66 

the  suggestion  ?  It  was  simply  the  flesh  speaking  and  Peter 
uttered  still  words  as  he  did  previously,  which  flowed  from 
a  mind  which  is  not  on  the  things  which  are  of  God,  but  that 
are  of  men.  In  the  sixteenth  chapter  he  rebuked  His  Lord 
and  tried  to  keep  Him  back  from  going  to  the  cross  and 
was  an  instrument  of  the  enemy,  and  here  once  more  his 
words  show  the  subtle  cunning  of  the  same  enemy,  whose 
tool  Peter  so  readily  became  even  on  that  holy  mountain. 

He  lowers  the  dignity  and  person  of  his  Lord  by  putting 
Him  on  the  same  level  with  Moses  and  Elias.  And  behind 
it  lurked  another  thought,  the  very  same  attempt  to  keep 
the  Lord  from  being  obedient  unto  the  death  of  the  cross, 
which  was  made  in  the  temptations  in  the  wilderness,  which 
was  hid  in  Peter's  "God  be  favorable  unto  Thee,"  is  made 
here  once  more.  Peter  would  have  a  Christ  in  Glory  and  the 
state  of  the  kingdom  there  without  the  cross,  and  he  is  even 
willing  with  fcuo  two  associates  to  work  for  it,  for  he  says, 
"Let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles." 

All  this  foreshadows  what  would  be  done  with  the 
Lord  of  glory.  The  corrupt  forms  of  Christianity  have  put 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  alongside  of  holy  men  (holy  in  their 
estimation),  or  alongside  of  great  men  of  the  world,  and 
thus  robbed  Him  of  His  Glory.  Not  for  a  moment  could 
this  be  tolerated.  Peter  is  still  babbling — while  he  was  still 
speaking  something  happens.  It  is  God  the  Father  Himself 
who  interferes  and  who  bears  witness  that  this  Jesus,  this 
Son  of  Man,  is  His  Son,  is  God.  "While  he  was  still  speak- 
ing, behold  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed  them,  and  lo  a 
voice  out  of  the  cloud,  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  have  found  my  delight,  hear  Him"  (verse  5). 

Wonderful  heavenly  answer.  "And  the  disciples  hearing 
it,  fell  upon  their  faces  and  were  greatly  terrified."  The 
heavens  opened  and  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  in  that  bright 
cloud  is  manifested.    These  three  men  well  knew  what  that 


67 

cloud  meant.  It  was  the  cloud  which  spoke  of  Jehovah's 
presence.  That  cloud  which  had  been  withdrawn  from 
Israel  for  centuries  had  all  at  once  appeared  again.  Then  Je- 
hovah had  returned  and  condescended  to  be  with  His  people 
once  more.  They  knew  they  stood  in  His  presence  as  Isaiah 
knew  it  when  he  saw  the  glorious  vision.  Therefore,  they 
were  terrified,  for  they  knew  as  sinful  men  they  stood  in  the 
Holy  of  Holiest  and  they  had  no  sacrifice.  And  now 
the  voice  out  of  the  cloud.  The  Father  speaks  and  He 
speaks  of  the  Son.  He  bears  witness  to  the  eternal  relation- 
ship of  Himself  with  Him,  who  was  ever  with  Him  and  ever 
His  delight.  He  calls  them  away  from  occupation  with 
Moses  and  Elias ;  neither  law  nor  prophets  can  help  you  and 
make  you  acceptable.  Here  He  is — my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear  Him !  He  has  pleased  the 
Father  and  in  Him  the  Father  and  the  Father's  heart  is  re- 
vealed. Men  are  to  hear  Him,  and  refusing  Him  means 
refusing  God.  In  Him  we  are  brought  to  God.  Of  course 
the  work  of  the  cross  is  here  anticipated.  And  thus  in  Him 
the  Father  speaks,  to  Him  the  Father  directs  us,  through 
Him  we  are  brought  to  the  Father,  and  by  Him  the  heavens 
are  opened.  And  all  the  precious  thoughts  which  here 
crowd  to  the  heart  and  the  mind  we  must  leave  untouched. 
Oh,  may  we  find  our  delight  in  Him  in  whom  God  finds 
His  delight !  Never  can  we  make  too  much  of  Him.  As 
then  the  cloud  appeared  and  there  was  an  open  manifestation 
of  the  Glory  and  Jehovah's  presence,  so  in  the  coming  day 
of  His  return  all  will  be  repeated.     Then  He  must  be  heard. 

"And  Jesus  coming  to  them  touched  them,  and  said,  Rise 
up  and  be  not  terrified.  And  lifting  up  their  eyes,  they  saw 
no  one  but  Jesus  alone''  (verse  8). 

He  touched  them  as  He  will  touch  His  poor  frightened 
people,  the  remnant  of  Israel,  in  that  day.  But  they  saw 
Jesus  alone.     Blessed  are  we  if  we  see  Him  and  Him  alone. 


68 

We  have  learned  then  from  the  transfiguration  that  we 
have  in  it  a  perfect  picture  of  the  kingdom  to  come.  Christ 
in  Glory,  His  face  like  the  Sun,  in  the  center.  Resurrected 
saints  and  those  who  were  caught  up  are  with  Him.  His 
Glory  covers  Him  and  them.  Living  men  are  in  His  pres- 
ence terrified.  The  heavens  are  opened  and  mercy  and  peace 
flow  forth. 

"And  as  they  descended  from  the  mountain,  Jesus  charged 
them,  saying,  Tell  the  vision  to  no  one  until  the  Son  of  Man 
be  risen  up  from  among  the  dead"  (verse  9). 

The  sounding  forth  of  His  Kingdom  glory  was  no  longer 
in  order,  for  the  Kingdom  had  been  rejected;  after  His 
resurrection  this  vision  was  to  be  made  known  and  fully 
understood,  but  not  before.  The  disciples,  the  witnesses 
of  the  transfiguration,  had  indeed  little  knowledge  of  its 
meaning.  From  the  Gospel  of  Mark  we  learn  that  they 
kept  this  saying  and  questioned  themselves  what  rising  from 
the  dead  was  (Mark  ix:io).  How  all  this  became  changed 
after  the  Lord  had  risen,  ascended  on  high,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  had  come  down  from  heaven ! 

The  appearance  of  Elijah  in  that  glorious  vision  on  the 
holy  mountain  leads  to  a  question  which  the  disciples  bring 
to  their  Master.  The  coming  of  Elijah  as  the  forerunner 
of  King  Messiah  was  firmly  believed  by  every  Jew,  and  it  is 
still  held  by  all  orthodox  Jews.  Elijah  is  first  to  come,  and 
when  he  is  come  then  the  Messiah  is  about  to  come  and  with 
His  coming  begins  the  ohm  habo  (the  world  or  age  to 
come),  this  is  a  strong  article  of  talmudical  Judaism.  The 
disciples  bring  their  question,  "Why  then  say  the  scribes  that 
Elias  must  first  have  come  ?  And  He  answering  said  to 
them,  Elias  indeed  comes  first  and  will  restore  all  things. 
But  I  say  unto  you  that  Elias  has  already  come,  and  they 
have  not  known  him,  but  have  done  unto  him  whatever  they 
would.     Thus  also  the  Son  of  Man  is  about  to  suffer  from 


69 

them.  Then  the  disciples  understood  that  He  spoke  to  them 
of  John  the  Baptist"  (verses  10-13).  The  difficulty  which 
the  disciples  had  about  Elias  was  about  the  prophecy  con- 
tained in  the  last  prophetic  book  of  the  Old  Testament: 
"Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  com- 
ing of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord.  And  he 
shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  and  the 
heart  of  the  children  to  the  fathers  lest  I  come  and  smite 
the  earth  with  a  curse"  (Mai.  iv:5,  6).  They  had  seen 
Elias  in  glory.  In  the  land  and  among  the  people  all  was 
dark;  no  restoration,  no  turning  of  the  heart  of  the  fathers 
to  the  children  and  the  children  to  their  fathers  was  notice- 
able. On  the  contrary,  they  had  witnessed  how  He  in  whom 
they  believed  as  the  promised  Messiah,  the  King  of  Israel, 
was  being  rejected  and  the  nation  knew  Him  not.  And  still 
they  hoped  for  the  kingdom  and  that  age  of  blessing  for 
Jerusalem.  What  then  about  Elias?  Would  he  yet  appear 
and  restore  all  things?  The  Lord  answers  their  difficulty, 
as  He  always  does  when  His  own  turn  to  Him  and  put  their 
difficulties  before  Him.  He  does  not  deny  the  fact  that 
Elias  comes  first  and  will  restore  all  things.  Furthermore, 
He  told  them  that  he  had  come  and  they  had  not  received 
him,  but  rejected  him  and  his  testimony.  As  he  was  re- 
jected, so  He  the  Son  of  Man  was  now  about  to  suffer  from 
them,  is  His  third  statement.  All  at  once  they  understood 
that  He  meant  John  the  Baptist.  They  were  right.  John 
the  Baptist  had  come  in  the  power  and  spirit  of  Elijah.  He 
was  the  voice  in  the  wilderness,  the  way  preparer,  the  one 
in  whom  the  last  prophecy  in  Malachi  might  have  been  ful- 
filled, but  they  did  not  know  Him.  His  rejection  was  the 
prelude  to  the  rejection  of  the  Lord  as  we  have  seen  before 
(chapter  xi).    John  surely  was  the  Elias  for  that  time. 

But  this  does  not  fulfill  Malachi's  prophecy.    That  proph- 
ecy is  yet  to  see  its  fulfilment.     Before  the  Lord  returns  to 


70 

earth  in  power  and  glory  another  forerunner,  an  Elijah,  will 
come  and  his  testimony  will  not  he  rejected  then;  he  will 
indeed  be  Elijah  who  restores  all  things  and  he  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  coming  of  the  King  to  set  up  His  kingdom. 
This  brings  before  us  the  questions,  when  will  the  Elijah 
who  restores  all  things  appear?  where  will  he  appear,  and 
what  will  his  work  be?  These  questions  are  important  in 
view  of  men  who  have  of  late  arisen  claiming  that  they  are 
Elijah,  one  especially  calling  himself  Elijah  the  Restorer, 
and  boldly  and  boastingly  declares  that  his  mission  is  to 
establish  a  Zion  in  the  earth  and  restore  things  before  the 
Lord  comes.  When  will  Elijah  appear?  He  will  come  upon 
the  scene  at  the  time  of  the  end.  This  prophetic  time  of 
the  end  is  specified  in  the  entire  prophetic  Word;  it  is 
Jewish  history  resumed.  As  long  as  the  church  is  in  the 
earth  that  end  time  does  not  begin.  The  removal  of  the 
church  will  be  followed  by  the  last  stage  of  the  ending  of 
the  age.  During  that  time,  the  great  tribulation,  Elijah  ap- 
pears. Any  believer  who  holds  the  scriptural  doctrine  of 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  for  His  saints  before  the  great 
tribulation  is  in  no  danger  to  follow  deceivers  who  claim 
to  be  something,  for  he  knows  he  shall  see  not  Elijah  nor 
the  Antichrist. 

Where  will  Elijah  appear?  Certainly  not  in  America, 
Australia  or  Europe,  but  in  Israel's  land,  where  Elijah  of 
old  witnessed  and  Join  the  Baptist,  as  herald  of  the  King, 
stood.  His  ministry  is  confined  to 'the  land  of  Israel.  What 
will  his  work  be  ?  It  will  not  be  a  work  to  restore  Christen- 
dom or  to  restore  the  church,  or  to  purify  the  politics  of  this 
world  and  rid  society  of  certain  evils,  but  his  work  is  ex- 
clusively among  the  people  who  are  the  kingdom  people. 
His  witness  is  to  the  remnant  of  Israel.  Like  John's  call  to 
repentance,  he  will  preach  repentance  and  his  testimony  will 
be  received;  he  will  accomplish  the  mission  of  Malachi 
iv  :5,  6. 


The  appearance  of  Elijah,  therefore,  does  not  come 
as  long  as  the  church  is  present;  he  appears  in  Israel's  land 
and  his  work  is  not  among  Gentiles,  but  among  the  remnant 
of  Israel.  This  stamps  every  man  who  arises  at  this  time 
with  the  assertion  that  he  i*  Elijah  as  one  who  is  deceived 
or  a  deceiver,  perhaps,  both,  deceived  and  a  deceiver.  It 
is  not  at  all  strange  that  such  men  find  listening  ears  among 
Christians. 

And  now  the  Lord  and  His  discipies  are  down  in  the 
valley  again.  They  had  descended  from  the  holy  moun- 
tain and  once  more  they  are  among  the  multitude,  who 
perhaps  had  waited  through  the  night  for  Him.  At  the 
dawn  of  the  morning  He  appears. 

"And  when  they  came  to  the  multitude,  a  man  came  to 
Him,  falling  on  his  knees  before  Him,  and  saying,  Lord, 
have  mercy  on  my  son,  for  he  is  lunatic  and  suffers  sorely ; 
for  often  he  falls  into  the  fire  and  often  into  the  water.  And 
I  brought  him  to  the  disciples  and  they  were  not  able  to 
heal  him.  And  Jesus  answering  said,  O,  unbelieving  and 
perverted  generation,  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you?  How 
long  shall  I  bear  with  you?  Bring  him  here  to  me.  And 
Jesus  rebuked  him,  and  the  demon  went  out  from  him  and 
the  boy  was  healed  from  that  hour.  Then  the  disciples, 
coming  to  Jesus  apart,  said  to  Him,  Why  were  we  not  able 
to  cast  him  out?  And  He  says  to  them,  Because  of  your 
unbelief;  for  verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  to  this  mountain,  Be 
transported  hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it  shall  transport 
itself;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  you.  But  this  kind 
does  not  go  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting"*  (verses  14-21). 


*It  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  twenty-first  verse  is  not  found 
in  the  two  oldest  manuscripts  dating  back  to  the  fourth  century, 
the  Codex  Sinaiticus  and  Vaticanus. 


J2 

This  is  another  very  suggestive  passage.  It  has  many 
dispensational  and  spiritual  lessons.  The  coming  down  of 
the  Lord,  the  one  who  has  been  transfigured,  from  the 
mountain  in  the  morning  is  clearly  typical  of  His  coming 
again  in  Glory.  And  what  does  He  find  when 
He  comes?  He  finds  Satan  exercising  his  soul  and  body- 
destroying  power.  The  boy  possessed  by  a  demon  suffering 
sorely  is  the  type  of  Satan's  dominion  when  the  Son  of 
Man  comes  again.  Multitudes  wait  for  His  return,  and 
when  He  comes  He  finds  misery,  suffering  and  unbelief. 
The  disciples  had  the  power  conferred  upon  them  to  cast 
out  demons,  but  they  were  helpless ;  they  could  not  do  it, 
and  unbelief  was  plainly  at  the  root  of  their  inability.  We 
must,  however,  be  cautious  to  apply  this  in  the  right  way. 
It  would  be  incorrect  to  make  these  disciples  the  church. 
We  have  seen  before  that  they  represent  the  Jewish  remnant 
(chapter  x).  Such  a  remnant  of  Jewish  believers  will  be  in 
existence  after  the  body  of  Christ,  the  church,  is  complete 
and  come  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  This  future  Jew- 
ish remnant  will  preach  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  and  they 
will  go  once  more  through  the  cities  of  Israel  manifesting 
the  powers  of  the  kingdom.  And  yet  they  will  not  be  able 
to  cast  out  the  demon  which  holds  dominion.  The  coming 
Lord  can  do  this  and  does  it  with.  His  manifestation. 

However,  the  principles  underlying  the  incident  have  a 
deeper  spiritual  application.  Here  is  a  company  of  believers, 
for  such  were  the  disciples,  and  the  Lord  had  put  power 
into  their  hands,  yet  they  were  not  able  to  use  it.  Perhaps, 
as  over  and  over  again  they  attempted  to  drive  out  the  demon 
and  failure  followed,  the  multitude  jeered  at  them,  and  the 
effect  upon  the  child  must  have  been  awful.  Their  failure 
made  the  case  worse.  Thus  we  are  as  believers  in  the  midst 
of  an  evil  world,  which  is  under  the  sway  of  its  god,  the 
devil,  and  his  demons.     Complete  victory  and  power  over 


73 

the  world  and  its  god  is  given  to  us  by,  in  and  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  here  are  many  of  God's  people 
as  helpless  and  powerless  as  were  these  disciples  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountain.  Weakness  and  failure  is  seen  everywhere, 
and  instead  of  exercising  full  control  and  having  full  power 
over  that  which  is  evil,  the  evil  has  full  control.  And  why  ? 
Oh,  let  us  put  the  words  prominently  before  the  eyes  of  our 
hearts,  "Because  of  your  unbelief."  Unbelief  is  the  only 
reason  for  this  failure.  Unbelief  gives  the  world  and 
Satan  all  their  power.  Faith  lays  him  low  and  the  walls  of 
Jericho  (the  world)  must  crumble  to  dust  without  even  a 
single  hand  lifted  up  against  them.  Nothing  is  impossible 
for  him  who  believes.  Faith  can  remove  and  does  remove 
mountains,  which  mean  obstacles  and  difficulties  in  our  way. 
How  little  such  faith  is  exercised  among  believers.  And 
we  may  go  still  further  and  ask  what  is  the  reason  of  lack 
of  faith?  A  severed  communion  with  the  Lord  and  occu- 
pation with  self.  If  the  Lord  is  ever  before  our  hearts  and 
self  is  out  of  sight,  faith  can  readily  be  exercised.  There- 
fore the  Lord  gives  the  remedy,  "Prayer  and  Fasting." 
Prayer  means  communion  with  the  Lord  and  dependence 
on  Him.  Fasting  (the  least  meaning  of  it,  abstinence  from 
food),  the  losing  sight  of  self;  self-denial. 

The  healing  of  the  lunatic  is  followed  by  a  second  an- 
nouncement of  His  suffering,  death  and  resurrection.  "And 
while  they  abode  in  Galilee,  Jesus  said  to  them,  The  Son  of 
Man  is  about  to  be  delivered  up  into  the  hands  of  men,  and 
they  shall  kill  him ;  and  the  third  day  He  shall  be  raised  up. 
And  they  were  greatly  grieved"  (verses  22,  23).  This  new 
declaration  of  His  passion,  following  the  transfiguration 
scene  and  the  manifestation  of  His  power  over  the  devil,  is 
a  reminder  that  through  the  cross  alone  the  glory 
could  be  accomplished.  In  the  sixteenth  chapter  the 
announcement    of    the    fact    that    He    would    build    His 


74 

church  is  followed  by  the  first  statement  of  His  suffering, 
and  there  the  elders,  chief  priests  and  scribes  are  mentioned, 
and  His  glory  as  the  Son  of  Man  is  manifested.  He 
speaks  again  of  His  death,  and  the  chief  priests  and  elders 
are  not  mentioned,  but  He  speaks  of  being  about  to  be  de- 
livered into  the  hands  of  men.  This  head  of  the  body,  His 
church,  and  head  of  the  new  creation  as  Second  Man  He  was 
to  become  by  death  and  resurrection.  And  His  disciples, 
in  hearing  these  words,  were  greatly  grieved.  All  these  say- 
ings of  the  Lord  were  mysterious  unto  them.  They  knew 
not  that  all  the  hope  of  glory  and  the  kingdom  could  only  be 
realized  by  His  death  and  triumphant  resurrection,  or  they 
would  not  have  been  grieved. 

The  closing  paragraph  of  the  seventeenth  chapter  contains 
a  most  precious  incident,  which  we  shall  find  again  full  of 
most  suggestive  and  blessed  teachings.  The  scene  is  at 
Capernaum,  meaning  village  of  comfort.  Let  us  read  the 
text  first.  "And  when  they  came  to  Capernaum,  those  who 
received  the  didrachmas  came  to  Peter  and  said,  Does  your 
teacher  not  pay  the  didrachmas?  He  says,  Yes.  And  when 
he  came  to  the  house,  Jesus  anticipated  him,  saying,  What 
dost  thou  think,  Simon?  the  kings  of  the  earth,  from  whom 
do  they  receive  custom  or  tribute?  from  their  own  sons  or 
from  strangers  ?  Peter  says  to  Him,  From  strangers.  Jesus 
said  to  him,  Then  are  the  sons  free.  But  that  we  may  not 
be  an  offence  to  them,  go  to  the  sea  and  cast  a  hook,  and 
take  the  first  fish  which  comes  up,  and  when  thou  hast 
opened  its  mouth  thou  wilt  find  a  stater ;  take  that  and  give 
it  to  them  for  me  and  thee"  (verses  24-27). 

One  is  at  a  loss  how  to  give  out  a  little  of  the  wonderful 
riches  of  grace  and  glory  which  are  manifested  in  this  little 
incident  there  by  the  sea  of  Galilee.  And  even  if  we  would 
bring  out  every  point  and  lesson  the  Holy  Spirit  has  put  here 
for  us,  it  would  all  be  but  imperfect  stammering.    The  grace 


75 

and  glory  of  Himself  is  here  most  wonderfully  brought 
forth.  He  manifests  Himself  as  the  omnipotent  Lord;  His 
divine  majesty  and  power  is  shown  forth  in  the  miracle  of 
the  fish,  and  in  wonderful  condescension  this  Lord  is  servant, 
to  make  us  sons  with  Himself,  and  as  such,  free.  But  let 
us  point  out  the  details. 

The  temple-tribute  is  here  meant,  which,  according  to 
Jewish  custom,  was  collected  at  the  end  of  the  month  Adar 
(March).  That  it  was  not  the  ransom  money  for  the  soul, 
spoken  of  in  Exodus  xxx:ii-i6,  is  obvious.  The  amount 
of  tribute  was  in  our  money  about  sixty  cents.  The  col- 
lector came  to  Peter,  perhaps  for  tlie  reason  that  the  Lord 
was  not  present.  And  Peter  acts  once  more  in  his  hasty 
manner.  Without  thinking  he  answers  with  a  ready  "yes." 
But,  Peter,  hast  thou  forgotten  thy  wonderful  confession, 
"Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God?"  Is  the 
vision  from  the  holy  mountain  so  quickly  gone  that  thou 
canst  put  again  thy  Lord  down  on  the  level  with  every  other 
Jew  who  is  obliged  to  pay  temple-tribute  ?  Alas !  even  so 
it  was.  The  dignity  and  glory  of  His  Lord  was  quite  for- 
gotten and  out  of  sight. 

We  see  Peter  after  his  hasty  reply  in  the  house  surprised 
by  the  Lord.  He  knew  his  heart  and  the  question  which 
had  been  asked,  as  well  as  the  answer  which  Peter  had 
given.  Jesus  anticipated  him,  and  addressing  him  as  Simon, 
He  asks,  "the  kings  of  the  earth,  from  whom  do  they  re- 
ceive tribute?  from  their  own  sons  or  from  strangers?" 
What  a  strong  proof  this  is  once  more  of  the  Divinity  of  the 
humble  Jesus.  He  knew  the  thoughts  of  His  disciple;  this 
Jesus  is  the  omniscient  God,  God  manifested  in  the  flesh. 
Peter  now  gives  the  correct  answer,  "From  strangers ;"  to 
which  Jesus  replies,  "Then  are  the  sons  free."  In  this 
declaration  all  His  glory  is  once  more  revealed.  He  is  the 
Son,  He  is  Jehovah,  whose  glory  had  appeared  in  the  tern- 


76 

pie;  how  could  He  then  pay  tribute  to  that  which  is  His 
own?  As  Son  He  was  free,  no  such  obligation  was  upon 
Him.  Oh,  how  the  dignity  of  His  Person  stands  before  us 
in  these  simple  words.  He  shows  His  place  as  Son,  and  as 
such  He  is  exempt  from  the  tribute.  But  while  thus  He 
shows  His  divine  right,  He  does  not  insist  upon  it.  "But 
that  we  may  not  be  an  offence  to  them,  go  to  the  sea  and 
cast  a  hook,  and  take  the  first  fish  that  comes  up ;  and  when 
thou  hast  opened  its  mouth,  thou  wilt  find  a  stater;  take 
that  and  give  it  to  them  for  me  and  thee." 

And  here  still  greater  grace  and  glory  is  revealed  for  our 
hearts  to  enjoy.  First  notice  that  the  Lord  speaks  not  of 
Himself  alone,  but  also  of  Peter.  He  had  not  said  that  He 
as  the  Son  is  free,  but  the  "sons  are  free."  In  speaking  of 
giving  offence  He  says  "we,"  and  when  the  money  is 
miraculously  provided  it  was  to  be  "for  me  and  thee,"  for 
the  Lord  and  for  Peter.  What  precious  thoughts  these  facts 
bring  to  us !  The  Lord,  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  free,  identi- 
fies Himself  with  His  disciple,  with  Peter,  who,  as  we  have 
seen  before,  is  the  representative  of  the  disciples.  In  this 
gracious  identification  of  the  Lord  with  His  own,  every 
believer  is  included.  He  is  Son  and  we  are  sons  with  Him ; 
He  is  free  and  He  has  made  us  free.  "If  therefore  the  Son 
shall  set  you  free  ye  shall  be  really  free" — He  has  identified 
Himself  with  us  and  we  are  sharers  of  His  grace,  His 
humiliation  and  His  glory.  But  what  an  example  it  is 
which  He  in  His  gracious  action  puts  here  before  us  for 
our  consideration  and  "to  go  and  do  likewise."  He  sur- 
renders His  personal  right  for  the  sake  of  "not  giving 
offence."  Surely  "He  has  left  us  an  example  that  we  should 
follow  in  His  steps."  It  behooves  us  now,  though  we  are 
sons  of  God  and  sons  of  glory,  to  walk  in  humility,  without 
asserting  our  right,  willing  in  all  things  which  concern 
ourselves  to  suffer.     Alas !  how  little  it  is  done — how  great 


77 

the  offence  given  again  and  again,  by  the  self-assertion,  the 
ungracious  and  worldly  behavior  of  those  who  through  the 
grace  of  God  are  not  o-f  the  world  as  He  is  not  of  it.  May 
we  learn  of  Him  in  this  sweet  lesson.  He  could  say,  "I  am 
meek  and  lowly  of  heart,"  and  His  humility  shines  forth  in 
His  action.  Like  He  the  Son  becoming  a  servant  may  we 
as  sons  be  servants  too.  And  then,  think  of  it,  He  provided 
for  all  which  was  needed.  Just  the  amount  which  was 
needed  "for  me  and  for  thee"  was  at  His  command ;  it  was 
ready  and  prepared.  All  is  His  and  unto  the  riches  of  Him- 
self He  has  taken  us.  "For  me  and  thee"  speaks  of  individ- 
uality and  intimacy.  Faith  is  to  take  hold  of  it  and  realize 
even  better  and  more  fully  that  all  need  is  supplied  by  Him- 
self and  that  from  Him  all  comes  to  us.  And  by  what  a 
mighty  miracle  He  provides  the  need.  Once  more  His  glory 
flashes  forth.  Again  we  learn  that  this  Jesus  who  speaks 
here  is  God,  God  the  Creator;  as  such  He  manifests  Him- 
self. It  is  a  practical  illustration  of  Col.  1:16  and  Hebrews 
i  13.  He  knows  the  deep  sea,  for  He  made  the  sea.  He 
knows  the  mysteries  of  the  deep,  nothing"  is  hid  from  Him. 
He  knows  the  piece  of  money  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  for 
the  silver  and  the  gold  are  His.  As  He  spoke  before  to 
the  restless  sea  and  wind  and  waves  obeyed  Him,  so  here, 
the  deep  obeys  His  voice.  A  creature  of  His  is  there,  a 
fish,  and  He  commands  the  fish  to  take  up  a  piece  of  money. 
Then  He  brings  the  fish  to  Peter's  hcok.  Omniscience 
and  omnipotence  is  here  which  belong  to  God  and  God  is 
present.  And  this  Jesus  is  the  same,  yesterday,  to-day  and 
forever.  He  who  knew  the  fish  and  commanded  that  fish 
to  take  the  stater  and  guided  it  to  Peter's  hook,  is  our 
Lord,  with  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  In  view  of  such 
gracious  and  wonderful  demonstration  of  His  power  the 
heart  cries  out — Oh  why  do  we  not  trust  Him  fully  at  all 
times  and  circumstances !     Why  do  we  not  even  hasten  to 


78 

such  a  Lord  whose  grace  and  power  is  all  for  us,  and  ever 
trust  Him  for  all  we  want? 

Perhaps  here  is  also  the  thought  of  death  in  type  and 
that  through  death  our  need  is  provided..  Out  of  the  water 
the  fish  was  taken,  and  out  of  the  deep  provision  was  made. 


79 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

So  closely  is  this  chapter  connected  with  the  events  of 
the  previous  one  that  it  should  not  be  divided  into  a  sepa- 
rate chapter  at  all.  It  was  "in  that  hour''  the  disciples  came 
to  Him  with  their  question.  When  the  Lord  had  just  ut- 
tered the  great  truth  "the  sons  are  free"  and  added  His 
gracious  Word  "that  we  may  not  be  an  offence  to  them" 
and  the  disciples  asked  their  question  about  being  greatest 
in  the  kingdom,  the  great  Teacher  continues  His  teachings. 

"Who  then  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens? 
And  Jesus  having  called  a  little  child  to  Him,  set  it  in  their 
midst,  and  said,  Verily  I  say  to  you,  unless  ye  are  converted 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  will  not  at  all  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  Whoever  therefore  shall  hum- 
ble himself  as  this  little  child,  he  is  the  greatest  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens"  (verses  1-5).  In  the  Gospel  of 
Luke  (chapter  ix:46)  we  read  that  they  were  reasoning 
amongst  themselves  who  should  be  the  greatest.  Perhaps 
the  Lord's  words  to  Peter  about  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
produced  this  strife  among  the  disciples.  While  the  Lord 
had  set  His  face  like  a  flint  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  spoke 
of  His  coming  suffering  and  death,  they  had  these  selfish 
thoughts  and  reasonings.  And  so  they  approach  the  Lord, 
in  the  hour  when  He,  who  had  become  poor,  had  manifested 
His  divine  power  in  bringing  the  fish  with  a  piece  of  money 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  to  Peter's  hook.  And  how  gra- 
ciously He  teaches  them.  He  knew  their  hearts  and  read 
their  thoughts.  He  knew  the  depths  of  their  natures  and 
that  one  of  their  numbers  was  not  His  own.  What  love 
that  He  so  patiently  instructs  them. 


8o 

The  disciples  meant  of  course  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens, 
as  they  understood  it,  that  kingdom  which  was  and  is  to  be 
established  in  the  earth,  and  their  selfish  ambition  was  reach- 
ing out  for  a  great  earthly  position  in  that  kingdom.  They 
thought  of  the  time  when  service,  self-denial  and  suffering 
would  be  rewarded  by  the  King;  who  then  would  be 
greatest?  And  the  Lord  takes  a  little  child  and  sets  the 
little  one  in  their  midst  and  through  this  object  lesson 
teaches  them  who  will  be  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom. 
What  the  Lord  tells  His  disciples  here  is  practically  the  same 
which  Nicodemus  heard  from  His  lips  in  that  night  visit. 
The  kingdom  must  be  entered  in  and  that  means  con- 
version, to  turn  about  in  a  different  direction,  and  become 
as  a  little  child,  in  other  words,  a  new  life  is  given,  a  new 
existence  begins,  the  believer  is  born  again  and  enters  the 
kingdom  as  a  little  child,  as  he  entered  by  the  natural  birth 
into  the  world.  He  gives  therefore  the  great  characteristics 
of  those  who  have  entered  the  kingdom  and  the  great  prin- 
ciples which  are  to  govern  them.  It  is  lowliness,  littleness 
and  dependence.  These  are  the  characteristics  of  a  little 
child.  "Whoever  therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this 
child,  he  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens." 
Having  entered  into  the  kingdom  by  being  born  again,  we 
are  to  act  practically  according  to  these  principles  and  he 
who  does  so  is  the  greatest.  The  new  life  will  grow  and 
develop,  but  in  regard  of  these  characteristics  the  believer 
is  ever  to  remain  a  child  in  simplicity,  dependence  on  the 
Lord  and  in  lowliness  of  mind  as  well  as  self-forgetfulness. 
It  is  by  the  constant  following  of  these  principles  that  growth 
in  Grace  is  attained.  Nothing  is  more  detrimental  to  the 
development  of  spiritual  life  than  self-consciousness,  self- 
confidence  and  pride.  How  often  the  Lord  has  to  do  with 
His  children  what  the  earthly  father  has  to  do  with  his 
children  when  they  are  wilful.     He  has  to  discipline  them, 


8i 

and  that  means  to  show  them  their  true  place  as  a  little 
child.  "Moreover,  we  have  had  the  fathers  of  our  flesh  as 
chasteners,  and  we  referenced  them;  shall  we  not  much 
rather  be  in  subjection  to  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live? 
For  they  indeed  chastened  for  a  few  days,  as  seemed  good 
to  them ;  but  He  for  profit,  in  order  to  the  partaking  of  His 
holiness"  (Heb.  xii  :g,  10).  Lowliness  of  mind,  that  self- 
forgetfulness  and  dependence  on  God,  was  the  path  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  days  of  His  humiliation.  Let  this 
mind,  therefore,  be  in  you  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus. 

"And  whosoever  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in  my 
name  receives  me.  But  whosoever  shall  offend  one  of  these 
little  ones  who  believe  in  me,  it  were  profitable  for  him  that 
a  great  millstone  had  been  hanged  upon  his  neck  and  he  be 
sunk  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  Woe  to  the  world  because 
of  offences !  For  it  must  needs  be  that  offences  come ;  yet 
woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence  comes !  And  if  thy 
hand  or  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee ; 
it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  lame  or  maimed,  rather 
than  have  two  hands  or  two  feet  to  be  cast  into  eternal 
fire.  And  if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it 
from  thee ;  it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  one-eyed, 
rather  than  having  two  eyes  to  be  cast  into  the  hell  of  fire" 
(verses  5-9). 

The  great  thought  put  here  before  us  is  the  identification 
of  the  Lord  with  every  little  one,  each  who  has  become  a 
little  child,  that  is  born  again.  He  is  their  Father  and  their 
Lord,-  closely  identified  with  them.  It  reminds  us  of  that 
beautiful  word  "He  that  toucheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of 
His  eye"  (Zech.  ii:8).  It  is  spoken  of  Israel,  it  finds  a  still 
higher  application  in  us.  We  also  may  think  of  that  other 
statement:  "In  all  their  affliction,  He  was  afflicted"  (Is. 
lxiiLo,).  And  so  honor  done  to  one  of  the  little  ones  is  done 
unto  Him,  injury  done  to  one  of  them  is  injury  done  to 


$2 

Him.  What  glory  of  the  believer  this  reveals!  How  this 
fact  should  teach  us  how  to  behave  one  towards  the  other 
and  not  despise  any  one  who  is  Christ's.  How  apt  we  are  to 
do  this.  This  one  or  that  one  is  so  little  taught  in  the  Word, 
he  is  so  ungracious — and  with  all  our  criticism  we  forget  he 
is  after  all  one  of  Christ's  own. 

Care,  however,  must  be  taken  in  interpreting  the  passage 
concerning  those  who  offend,  the  casting  into  the  sea  with 
a  millstone*  and  into  eternal  fire.  That  this  cannot  mean 
the  true  believer,  who  gives,  offence  is  obvious.  The  true 
believer  may  give  offence,  as  alas !  he  often  does,  but  the 
fate  "eternal  fire"  or  "hell  of  fire"  is  not  for  him.  But  in 
the  kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  as  it  is  now,  there 
are  not  alone  those  who  are  truly  born  again,  but  also  many 
who  are  mere  professors  without  possessing  life.  These 
are  of  course  indifferent  and  careless  about  grieving  Him. 
The  "eternal  fire"  is  surely  for  those  who  though  professing, 
continue  deliberately  in  sin  and  unbelief.  And  yet  the  exhor- 
tation has  a  most  solemn  meaning  for  every  true  believer. 
Whatever  is  in  your  way,  whatever  is  a  stumbling  block  it  is 
to  be  removed.  If  it  is  the  hand  by  which  we  serve  and  act, 
or  by  the  foot,  the  walk,  or  by  the  eye,  the  very  best  we  have, 
put  it  away  so  as  not  to  give  an  offence. 

And  our  Lord  continues :  "See  that  ye  do  not  despise 
one  of  these  little  ones ;  for  I  say  unto  you  that  their  angels 
in  the  heavens  continually  behold  the  face  of  my  Father 
who  is  in  the  heavens"  (verse  10).  It  would  take  many 
pages  to  follow  or  state  all  the  different  interpretations  of 


*Christ  here  speaks  of  a  kind  of  death,  perhaps  nowhere,  certainly 
never  used  among  the  Jews;  He  does  it  either  to  aggravate  the 
thing,  or  in  allusion  to  drowning  in  the  Dead  Sea,  in  which  one 
cannot  be  drowned  without  something  hung  to  him,  and  in  which 
to  drown  anything  by  a  common  manner  of  speed  implied  rejection 
and  execration. — Horae  Hebraeicae, 


§3 

these  words  and  the  various  theories  and  doctrines  which 
have  been  built  upon  it.  That  there  are  difficulties  here 
none  would  deny. 

Much  has  been  made  of  this  passage  in  teaching  that  there 
is  a  "guardian  angel"  for  every  believer.  That  angels  have 
ministries  which  we  cannot  fully  grasp  now,  cannot  be  de- 
nied. 

"Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits  sent  out  for  service 
on  account  of  those  who  shall  inherit  salvation?"  (Heb. 
i:i4).  Faith  can  enjoy  it,  child-like  faith,  without  going 
into  speculation.  However  the  passage  does  not  teach  that 
every  believer  has  an  angel  who  guards  and  protects  him 
and  who  sees  the  Father. 

The  question  is,  does  the  Lord  still  speak  of  believers  or 
does  He  now  refer  to  actual  little  ones?  We  believe  the 
latter  is  the  case.  With  the  tenth  verse  ends  properly  the 
exhortation  of  the  Lord  in  answer  to  the  question  of  the 
disciples.  The  little  child  He  had  put  in  their  midst  was 
most  likely  still  there,  and  it  is  now  concerning  little 
ones,  little  children,  He  speaks,  that  they  should  not  be  de- 
spised. Children  are  subjects  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens.  How  little  the  disciples  understood  their  Lord 
and  how  they  needed  the  very  exhortation  not  to  despise  one 
of  these  little  ones  is  seen  in  the  next  chapter,  when  they 
brought  little  children  to  the  Lord  and  the  disciples  rebuked 
them.  The  Lord  then  declared :  "Sutler  little  children,  and 
do  not  hinder  them  from  coming  to  me ;  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  of  such"  (chapter  xix:i3,  14).  And  when  the 
Lord  now  speaks  of  "their  angels  in  the  heavens  continually 
behold  the  face  of  my  Father,"  what  does  He  mean  by  it? 

All  of  course  depends  on  the  interpretation  of  "angel." 
At  the  first  glance  it  would  seem  as  if  these  little  ones  have 
angels  in  heaven.  There  is  a  passage  in  Acts  xii  which  is 
the  key  to  solve  the  difficulty  here.     When  Peter,  rescued 


84 

by  an  angel,  led  forth  miraculously  from  the  prison  house, 
knocked  at  the  door  of  the  praying  assembly  and 
Rhoda  maintained  that  Peter  stood  outside,  they  said  "It  is 
his  angel."  They  believed  that  Peter  had  suffered  death 
and  that  his  angel  stood  outside.  What  does  "angel"  mean 
in  this  passage?  It  must  mean  the  departed  spirit  of  Peter. 
This  fact  throws  light  on  the  passage  before  us.  If  these 
little  ones,  who  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  de- 
part, their  disembodied  spirits  behold  the  Father's  face  in 
heaven ;  in  other  words,  they  are  saved.  Surely  heaven  is 
peopled  by  these  little  ones.  What  a  company  of  them  is  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lord !  The  little  ones  perish  not.  The 
work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  for  them.  The  verses 
which  follow  and  which  have  been  said  to  be  an  interpola- 
tion, belong  rightly  here;  indeed,  they  fit  in  most  wonder- 
fully, though  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke  we  have  the  substance 
of  these  words  enlarged.  "For  the  Son  of  Man  has  come 
to  save*  that  which  is  lost."  "What  think  ye?  If  a  certain 
man  should  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  be 
gone  astray,  does  he  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  on  the 
mountains,  go  and  seek  the  one  which  has  gone  astray? 
And  if  it  should  come  to  pass  that  he  find  it,  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  he  rejoices  more  because  of  it  than  because  of  the 
ninety  and  nine  not  gone  astray.  So  it  is  not  the  will  of  your 
Father  who  is  in  the  heavens  that  one  of  these  little  ones 
should  perish"  (verse  11-14). 

The  words  of  our  Lord,  which  follow  His  gracious  dec- 
laration, that  it  is  not  the  Father's  will  that  one  of  these 
little  ones  should  perish,  are  very  important.     Here  for  the 


*The  omission  of  "to  seek"  is  significant.  They  (little  children) 
are  lost  ones  needing  a  Saviour,  but  seeking  implies  a  condition  of 
active  wandering  from  God  such  as  in  their  case  is  hardly  begun  yet. 
— Num.  Bible, 


85 

second  time  in  this  gospel  and  the  last  time,  the  Lord  uses 
the  word  "church/"  or  as  we  translate  it  "assembly."  We 
must  have  therefore  additional  teachings  given  by  our  Lord 
concerning  His  church,  which  He  had  announced  in  the 
sixteenth  chapter  He  is  going  to  build.  We  have  learned 
before  that  the  building  of  the  church  was  future,  that 
when  He  gave  that  statement  there  was  no  church  in  ex- 
istence. And  so  the  words  He  spoke  to  His  disciples  in 
the  passage  before  us  are  in  anticipation  of  the  gathering 
out  of  the  assembly  or  church. 

Some  have  taught  that  the  word  "church"  means  a  syna- 
gogue. Church  and  synagogue,  however,  are  totally  dif- 
ferent terms. *  Others  have  failed  to  see  the  close  connection 
which  exists  between  the  first  part  of  the  chapter  and  the 
concinued  teachings  of  our  Lord  going  now  on  about  the  au- 
thority of  the  church.  That  all  is  vitally  connected  in  this 
chapter  may  not  be  discovered  at.  the  first  glance,  but  it  is 
so  nevertheless.  He  had  answered  their  question  about  the 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  and  true  believers 
were  described  by  Him  as  little  children,  born  of  God  and 
in  possession  of  the  characteristics  of  a  little  child.  No 
offence  should  be  given  to  any  of  these  little  ones.  He  then 
spoke  of  His  own  mission,  that  He  came  to  save  that  which 
is  lost  and  of  His  Grace  in  seeking  the  sheep  which  has 
gone  astray  till  He  finds  it  and  rejoices  over  it.  And  now 
He  speaks  of  a  brother  who  has  sinned.  How  is  he  to  be 
treated?  The  connection  then  is  clear.  If  He  sought  us 
and  saved  us  when  we  were  lost  in  our  sins,  so  we,  in  pos- 
session of  His  life,  in  the  spirit  of  a  little  child  in  dependence 


*Of  late  this  argument  has  been  pressed  in  certain  quarters  that 
the  word  church  means  synagogue.  However  if  the  Lord  had 
meant  synagogue  the  Holy  Spirit  surely  would  have  used  the  Greek 
word  ''synagoge"  instead  of  "ecclesia." 


86 

upon  Him  and  in  meekness,  are  to  seek  our  brother  who 
has  sinned.  The  instructions  He  gives,  however,  soon  refer 
us  to  the  church  and  her  executive  power  on  the  earth  dur- 
ing the  absence  of  the  Head,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But 
we  have  to  examine  these  words  in  detail. 

"But  if  thy  brother  sin  against  thee,  go  reprove  him  be- 
tween thee  and  him  alone.  If  he  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained 
a  brother"  (verse  15).  The  question  is  how  sin  in  a  brother 
is  to  be  treated.  What  kind  of  a  sin  is  meant,  whether  a 
sin  against  a  person  or  sin  in  a  wider  sense  of  the  word,  we 
shall  not  attempt  to  discuss.  He  is  a  brother  who  has  sinned 
and  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  that  the  one  who  knows 
about  it  is  to  go  to  him  personally  and  reprove  him,  that  is, 
show  him  his  fault.  The  object  of  his  reprover  is  not  per- 
haps to  defend  himself,  if  a  personal  matter,  a  false  ac- 
cusation, is  the  sin,  but  it  is  to  restore  and  gain  the  brother. 
But  to  go  to  the  brother  who  has  sinned  needs  great  cau- 
tion, earnest  prayer,  meekness  and  self  judgment.  If  the 
reproving  is  attempted  in  a  wrong  spirit  it  will  work  untold 
harm.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  given  us  in  Galatians  the 
description  of  the  brother  who  should  go  and  reprove  him 
who  has  sinned  and  the  manner  in  which  he  is  to  do  it. 
"Brethren,  if  even  a  man  be  taken  in  seme  fault,  ye  who  are 
spiritual  restore  such  a  one  in  a  spirit  of  meekness,  con- 
sidering thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted"  (Gal.  vi:i). 
Alas !  how  little  this  is  done.  Instead  of  going  at  once  to  the 
brother  who  sinned,  after  earnest  prayer  and  with  the  love 
and  grace  of  God  in  the  heart,  the  sin  of  the  brother  is 
often  spread  about  and  by  this  un-Christlike  behavior  magni- 
fied. Bitter  feelings  are  stirred  up,  resulting  in  greater 
evils,  slanders,  backbiting,  lying  and  other  sins.  If  at  last 
some  one  makes  an  attempt  to  see  the  brother,  he  finds  the 
case  perhaps  beyond  hope.  How  simply  our  gracious 
Lord  has  pointed  out  the  way  for  us,  what  the  first  step  is 


8; 

to  be  if  the  brother  has  sinned.  It  is  to  be  treated  as  a  per- 
sonal matter  and  the  sinning  brother  should  not  needlessly 
be  exposed.  Such  grace  manifested  is  able  to  gain  the 
brother. 

But  in  case  he  does  not  hear,  what  is  to  be  the  second 
step?  "But  if  he  do  not  hear  thee,  take  with  thee  one  or 
two  besides,  that  every  matter  may  stand  upon  the  word  of 
two  witnesses  or  three"  (verse  16).  Of  course  the  two, 
which  are  to  be  taken  along  in  this  second  step  to  restore  a 
brother,  must  have  the  same  spiritual  characteristics  as  the 
brother  who  came  to  him  first.  It  is  to  bring  still  greater 
love  to  bear  upon  him,  but  at  the  same  time  to  show  the 
brother  that  unconfessed  sin,  sin  not  put  away,  cannot  be 
tolerated  in  a  brother.  Should  he  stubbornly  refuse  to  see 
his  fault,  his  case  would  appear  hopeless  and  the  last  step  to 
be  done  would  hardly  reach  him,  for  from  the  very  outset 
he  has  been  hardening  his  heart  against  love  and  grace, 
the  love  of  Christ,  which  sought  to  restore  him. 

And  so  the  Lord  gives  the  last  injunction,  "But  if  he  will 
not  listen  to  them  tell  it  to  the  assembly."  The  sin  is  now 
to  be  made  public,  the  whole  assembly  is  to  hear  of  it  and 
of  course  from  the  side  of  the  assembly  or  church  there  is 
to  be  renewed  seeking  to  gain  the  brother  in  love.  Hasty 
judging  is  to  be  avoided  and  in  all  these  steps  impatient 
haste,  the  fruit  of  the  flesh,  is  to  be  avoided. 

The  assembly  is  mentioned,  we  repeat,  in  anticipation  of 
its  building  in  the  future.  The  injunction  given  here  could 
not  have  been  kept  at  the  time  when  the  Lord  gave  it,  nor 
before  the  day  of  Pentecost*     First  of  all  the  church  had 


*It  is  very  interesting  though  to  find  that  the  Elders  and  Rabbis 
of  old  had  many  sayings  about  reproving  a  brother  which  remind 
one  strongly  of  the  words  here.  It  was  also  customary  among  the 
Jews  to  note  those  that  were  obstinate  and  after  public  admonition 


88 

to  be  called  in  existence.  That  the  church  is  a  gathering  of 
persons  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  we  find 
later.  This  assembly  then,  the  church,  is  to  act  as  a  body 
in  the  case  of  the  brother  who  has  sinned.  Of  course  it  means 
a  local  church  gathered  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  which 
the  offender  is  a  part. 

"And  if  also  he  will  not  listen  to  the  assembly ;  let  him 
be  to  thee  as  one  of  the  nations  and  a  taxgatherer.  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  the  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  the 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  These  are  solemn  and 
important  words,  as  they  not  alone  give  us  light  on  what 
is  to  be  done  with  an  impenitent  brother,  but  also  show  us 
the  responsibility  and  authority  of  the  church,  on  earth. 
He  is,  after  refusing  to  hear  the  church,  to  be  considered 
as  one  outside,  one  who  has  forfeited  his  place.  This  how- 
ever does  not  mean  that  further  attempts  should  not  be 
made  to  restore  him.  The  action  of  the  assembly  is  to 
prove  that  holiness  is  to  be  maintained. 

And  now  the  "verily"  of  the  Lord.  Whatever  has  been 
read  into  these  words  of  binding  and  loosing  by  the  as- 
sembly we  pass  by.  The  words  simply  tell  us  that  the  Lord 
conferred  authority  to  act  on  the  earth  for  Himself,  and  the 
authority  is  absolute.  But  to  whom  does  He  give  this  au- 
thority? To  the  disciples,  apostles  to  be  conferred  by  them 
upon  others?  Never!  That  is  the  unscriptural,  man-made 
doctrine  which  has  displaced  the  person  and  the  work  of 
Christ,  one  of  Satan's  most  powerful  inventions.     The  an- 

in  the  synagogue  to  set  a  mark  of  disgrace  upon  them.  The  words 
by  our  Lord,  "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  unto  my 
Name  there  I  am  in  the  midst  of  them,"  is  also  found  in  the  talmud- 
ical  writings.  The  old  Rabbis  say,  "Two  or  three  sitting  in  judg- 
ment, the  Shekinah  is  in  the  midst  of  them."  However  all  this 
does  not  authorize  to  say  the  synagogue  is  meant  here, 


89 

thority  is  given  to  the  church.  He  gives  the  church  execu- 
tive power.  She  is  to  act  according  to  His  rules  laid  down 
and  in  acting  in  fullest  harmony  with  the  absent  Lord  and 
obedient  to  His  Word  as  well  as  guided  by  His  Spirit,  the 
action  of  the  assembly  is  valid  in  heaven.  The  Lord  sanc- 
tions it  in  heaven,  whether  it  is  binding  or  loosing.  If,  there- 
fore, anything  is  done  which  deviates  from  His  Word  and 
is  not  according  to  His  mind,  He  cannot  sanction  it.  The 
case  must  be  a  very  plain  one.  If  there  is  disagreement, 
diversity  of  opinion,  taking  of  different  sides,  it  is  evidence 
that  the  Lord  cannot  sanction  what  is  done. 

Alas!  how  little  these  injunctions  have -been  followed! 
How  little  the  church  has  understood  the  way  of  grace  as 
well  as  her  heaven-given,  solemn  authority.  That  which 
professes  to  be  the  church  has  made  attempts  to  follow  these 
injunctions,  but  being  disobedient  to  the  Word,  has  failed 
long  ago  and  is  powerless  to  carry  out  these  words.  Much 
of  that  which  calls  itself  church  is  simply  a  human  man-made 
institution,  having  adopted  a  set  of  rules,  a  form  of  govern- 
ment much  like  a  club.  Saved  and  unsaved  are  taken  in 
and  as  for  discipline  that  is  all  out  of  question. 

And  those  who  returned  to  the  first  principles  how  great 
their  failure !  The  flesh  has  come  in  and  worked  havoc ; 
things  are  done  often  in  a  sectarian  spirit,  a  spirit  which  the 
Lord  can  never  sanction.  Yet  all  failure  is  no  proof  that 
what  is  spoken  here  by  the  Lord  is  impossible  to  carry  out. 
It  is  possible  and  ever  will  be  possible  as  long  as  our  Lord 
is  gathering  out  a  people  for  His  name.  And  while  failure 
is  everywhere  failure  may  be  avoided  from  our  side  if  we 
are  obedient  to  Him  and  to  His  Word. 

He  then  continues  with  the  words  of  comfort  just  on  ac- 
count of  the  difficulty:  "Again  I  say  to  you,  that  if  two 
shall  agree  on  the  earth  concerning  any  matter,  whatsoever 
it  may  be  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  come  to  them  from 


90 

my  Father  who  is  in  the  heavens.  For  where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  unto  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them"  (verses  19-20). 

The  Lord  knew  the  difficulty  of  such  a  path  and  the  re- 
sponsibility which  rests  upon  believers  as  an  assembly  with 
such  an  authority  put  upon  them,  and  therefore  He  gives 
this  exceeding  great  and  precious  promise.  It  is  a  promise 
which  tells  us  that  He  and  His  strength  and  wisdom  is  on 
our  side  and  that  He  is  willing  to  supply  that  which  we 
lack.  The  promise  stands  first  of  all  in  connection  with  the 
restoring  of  a  brother  who  sinned.  United  prayer  is  first 
of  all  needed.  Yet  the  promise  is  not  limited  to  this.  We 
are  told  to  ask  touching  anything  and  the  assurance  is  given 
that  it  shall  be  done  for  us  by  the  heavenly  Father. 
Prayer  in  secret  is  blessed  and  made  in  His  Name  has  the 
assurance  likewise  of  an  answer,  but  united  prayer,  even  if 
only  by  two  who  are  agreed,  who  know  their  place,  their 
responsibility,  is  what  the  Lord  here  emphasizes.  And  there 
is  much  need  in  these  days  of  believers  being  agreed  and 
casting  themselves  upon  this  promise,  in  confession  of 
their  weakness  and  with  their  responsibility  resting  upon 
them,  making  their  requests  known  unto  God.  What  mighty 
works  have  been  accomplished  in  this  way !  It  would  take 
pages  to  record  some  of  the  victories  gained,  doors  opened, 
barriers  broken  down,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  souls 
saved,  all  accomplished  through  united  prayer.  He  is  still 
the  same ;  the  promise  still  holds  good.  And  how  graciously 
He  puts  the  number  the  lowest ;  not  a  hundred,  not  fifty,  not 
twenty-five — but  if  tzvo  shall  agree. 

The  words  "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
unto  my  name,*  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them"  gives  us 
the  center  to  which  the  assembly  is  gathered.    Not  the  name 


*Not  in  My  Name.     This  is  a  wrong  translation.     It  is  unto  My 
Name. 1.. 


9* 

of  a  man,  but  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
exalted  Head  of  His  body.  The  promised  presence  of  the 
Lord  is  for  those  who  acknowledge  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  One  to  whom  they  are  gathered.  Alas!  that  the  very 
passage  should  have  been  used  to  foster  the  same  sectarian- 
ism which  has  been  the  snare  of  the  professing  church! 
And  still  it  is  true  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  unto  the 
Name,  which  is  above  every  name,  rejecting  all  other  names, 
there  is  an  assembly  and  there  is  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of 
them. 

Peter  now  comes  once  more  to  the  foreground.  He  is 
again  the  spokesman  of  the  disciples.  The  mention  of  the 
word  "church"  most  likely  revived  in  him  the  memory  of 
the  words  the  Lord  had  uttered  after  Peter's  confession  of 
Him  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Peter  had,  of 
course,  then  no  knowledge  of  the  full  meaning  of  that  which 
came  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then  Peter  came 
to  Him  and  said,  "Lord,  how  often  shall  my  brother  sin 
against  me  and  I  forgive  him?  Until  seven  times?  Jesus 
says  to  him,  I  say  not  to  thee  until  seven  times,  but  until 
seventy  times  seven"  (verses  21,  22).  The  question  is 
in  closest  connection  with  what  the  Lord  had  said.  But 
He  had  not  said  a  word  about  forgiving  a  brother.  The 
word  "forgive"  was  not  used  once  by  our  Lord  ;  He  had 
spoken  of  gaining  a  brother  who  had  sinned.  Did  Peter 
perhaps  mean  how  often  he  should  forgive  his  brother  be- 
fore the  case  should  be  taken  up  in  the  order  as  indicated  by 
our  Lord?  We  think  it  is  now  specifically  the  question  of 
personal  grievances  we  may  have  against  a  brother.  Peter 
thinks  and  speaks  of  self.  The  Rabbis  had  given  the  follow- 
ing rule :  "Pardon  a  man  once,  that  sins  against  another ; 
secondly  pardon  him;  thirdly  pardon  him ;  fourthly  do  not 
pardon  him,"  etc.* 


*Bab.  Joma. 


02 

Peter,  quite  well  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of  the 
elders,  most  likely  thought  of  this  and  he  desired  to  show 
his  appreciation  of  the  gracious  words  he  had  heard  by  de- 
clearing  his  readiness  to  forgive  his  brother  not  three  times, 
but  twice  three  times  and  a  little  over.  Until  seven  times? 
he  asks.  Surely,  he  must  have  thought  the  Lord  will  be 
pleased  with  such  generosity  and  brotherly  love.  Ah,  how 
little  he  knew  the  Grace  of  Him  whom  he  had  followed.  The 
answer  of  the  Lord  must  have  been  a  revelation  to  Peter, 
"until  seventy  times  seven."  This  is  unlimited  forgiveness. 
This  God  in  Christ  has  forgiven  us  and  forgives  us,  and  the 
same  Grace,  unlimited  Grace  is  to  be  shown  towards  the 
brother  who  sins  against  inc.  It  is  the  same  blessed  word 
God  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  us  in  the  Epistles,  "forbearing  one 
another,  if  any  should  have  a  complaint  against  any ;  even  as 
the  Christ  has  forgiven  you,  so  also  do  ye"  (Col.  hi  ^13). 
"And  be  to  one  another  kind,  compassionate,  forgiving  one 
another,  so  as  God  also  in  Christ  has  forgiven  you"  (Ephes. 
iv:32). 

This  human  question  of  Peter  brought  out  the  fullness 
of  divine  Grace. 

And  now  the  heavenly  Teacher  utters  in  connection  with 
this  a  parable.  "For  this  cause  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens 
has  become  like  a  King  who  would  reckon  with  his  bond- 
men. And  having  begun  to  reckon,  one  debtor  of  ten  thou- 
sand talents  was  brought  to  him.  But  he  not  having  any- 
thing to  pay,  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and  his 
wife  and  his  children,  and  everything  that  he  had ;  and  that 
payment  should  be  made.  The  bondman,  therefore,  falling 
down  did  him  homage,  saying,  'Lord  have  patience  with  me 
and  I  will  pay  thee  all.'  And  the  lord  of  that  bondman, 
being  moved  with  compassion,  loosed  him  and  forgave  him 
the  loan.  But  that  bondman  having  gone  out,  found  one  of 
his  fellow  bondmen  who  owed  him  a  hundred  denarii.    And 


93 

having  seized  him,  he  throttled  him,  saying,  Pay  me  if  thou 
owest  anything.  His  fellow  bondman  therefore,  having 
fallen  down  at  his  feet,  besought  him,  saying,  Have  patience 
with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee.  But  he  would  not,  but  went 
away  and  cast  him  into  prison  until  he  should  pay  what  was 
owing.  But  his  fellow  bondmen  having  seen  what  had 
taken  place,  were  greatly  grieved,  and  went  and  recounted 
to  the  lord  all  that  had  taken  place.  Then  his  lord  having 
called  him,  says  to  him,  Wicked  bondman !  I  forgave  thee 
all  that  debt  because  thou  besoughtest  me;  shouldst  not 
thou  also  have  had  compassion  on  thy  fellow  bondman,  as  I 
also  had  compassion  on  thee  ?  And  his  lord  being  angry  de- 
livered him  to  the  tormentors  till  he  paid  all  that  was  owing 
to  him.  Thifs  also  my  heavenly  Father  shall  do  to  you  if 
ye  forgive  not  from  your  hearts  every  one  his  brother" 
(verses  23-35). 

In  looking  closer  at  this  parable  we  must  first  of  all  be 
clear  on  the  fact  that  it  is  a  parable  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  as  such  does  not  present  to  us  the  conditions  as 
they  prevail  under  the  Gospel  of  Grace  and  in  the  church. 

It  is  not  the  assembly  which  is  before  the  Lord,  but 
the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens,  therefore  the  parable  describes 
conditions  as  prevailing  in  the  Kingdom.  The  parable  illus- 
trates an  important  principle.  Here  we  have  a  picture  of 
the  sinner  in  the  servant  who  owes  the  king  ten  thousand 
talents,  about  twelve  million  dollars.  He  is  unable  to  pay 
this  immense  debt,  as  the  sinner  is  unable  to  pay  his  debt. 
The  servant  is  threatened  with  complete  loss  of  all  he  has 
and  possesses ;  and  then  appeals  to  the  king,  asking  his  pa- 
tience for  his  willingness  to  pay  all.  But  what  does  the 
king  do?  He  ignores  the  plea;  he  knows  the  impossibility 
that  this  penniless  servant  could  ever  pay  the  debt  he  owes, 
and  then  in  marvelous  compassion  he  sets  the  bound  ser- 
vant free  and  forgives  him.    All  this  illustrates  the  hopeless- 


94 

ness  of  the  sinner  and  the  Mercy  of  God  without  bringing 
out  the  blessed  facts  of  the  Gospel.  This  would  be  beyond 
the  scope  of  the  parable.  But  what  happens  ?  The  liberated 
and  forgiven  one  finds  a  fellow  servant  who  owes  him  a  hun- 
dred denarii,  which  is  about  seventeen  dollars.  Fresh  from 
his  terrible  experience,  his  narrow  escape  and  the  great 
mercy  shown  to  him,  he  flies  at  the  poor  fellow's  throat,  a 
thing  the  king  had  not  done,  demands  his  pay,  and  without 
taking  his  plea  at  all  into  consideration  casts  him  into  prison. 
The  mercy  shown  to  him  had  not  touched  his  heart ;  and  with 
all  that  rich  mercy  extended  to  him,  he  is  a  wicked  man 
and  addressed  thus  by  the  king,  who  gives  him  over  to  tor- 
mentors, to  suffer  till  he  should  pay  all  that  was  due.  Thus 
a  mere  professor  of  the  Gospel  may  act ;  his  profession  out- 
wardly is  that  he  is  a  sinner,  that  he  owes  God  much  and 
he  professes  to  believe  in  the  compassion  and  forgiveness  of 
God.  His  heart,  however,  knows  nothing  of  the  Mercy 
and  Grace  of  God.  He  goes  on  acting  wickedly,  and  his  evil 
heart  is  manifested  by  the  way  he  treats  his  fellow  servant. 
Where  Mercy  is  given,  Mercy  must  be  shown.  If  the  heart 
has  really  apprehended  the  Grace  of  God  and  realizes  what 
God  has  done  for  us  in  His  wonderful  Grace,  it  will  ever 
be  gracious  and  forgive ;  if  we  do  not  act  according  to  this 
principle  we  must  expect  to  be  dealt  with  by  a  righteous  and 
holy  God. 


95 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  chapter  we  find  a  con- 
tinuation of  teachings  concerning  the  kingdom.  This,  we 
repeat,  is  not  the  same  kingdom  promised  to  Israel,  as  it 
was  preached  by  the  Lord  and  His  disciples,  in  the  first 
part  of  this  Gospel,  but  it  is  the  kingdom  in  its  condition 
during  the  absence  of  the  King,  that  condition  which  we 
saw  revealed  in  the  thirteenth  chapter.  The  teachings 
given  now  by  the  Lord  concern  the  institution,  which  the 
Creator  in  His  infinite  wisdom  had  established  in  the  be- 
ginning. Are  the  relationships  of  nature  to  be  given  up 
in  the  kingdom?  Is  there  to  be  a  change  from  that  which 
God  originally  instituted?  We  shall  learn  that  the  Lord 
teaches  that  these  natural  relationships  are  not  to  be  dis- 
solved or  set  aside  in  the  kingdom.  We  shall  find,  however, 
that  we  have  here  not  the  fullest  teaching  concerning  these 
earthly  relations.  In  the  Epistles  are  given  the  exhortations 
to  husbands,  wives  and  children ;  and  always  after  the  Chris- 
tian believer's  position  and  standing  has  been  clearly  de- 
fined. To  be  in  the  kingdom  does,  therefore,  not  free  from 
natural  relationship.  Indeed,  it  is  just  in  these  that  the  life 
of  Christ  in  love,  patience,  meekness  and  forbearance  is  to 
be  manifested.  The  exhortations  in  Ephesians,  Romans, 
Colossians,  Titus  and  other  Epistles  teach  this  most  posi- 
tively. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesus  had  finished  these  words, 
He  withdrew  from  Galilee,  and  came  to  the  coasts  of  Judea 
beyond  the  Jordan ;  and  a  great  multitude  followed  Him, 
and  He  healed  them  there.     And  the  Pharisees  came  to 


96 

Him,  and  saying,  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his 
wife  for  any  cause?"  (verses  1-3).  Galilee  is  left  now  be- 
hind and  He  nears  Judea  and  Jerusalem ;  and  again  He 
is  followed  by  a  multitude  and  many  are  healed  by  His 
loving  hands  and  His  divine  power. 

The  subject  of  the  earthly  relationship  instituted  by  God 
before  the  fall,  called  marriage,  is  brought  into  the  fore- 
ground by  tempting  Pharisees.  We  have  heard  nothing  of 
these  enemies  of  the  Lord  since  the  beginning  of  the  fif- 
teenth chapter.  These  traditionalists  and  strong  ritualists 
are  now  coming  upon  the  scene  again.  Once  more  it  is  a 
question  about  their  oral  law,  their  man-made  rules.  He 
had  silenced  them  about  the  Sabbath  day  and  declared  that 
He,  the  Son  of  Man,  is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath.  When 
they  came  with  the  ridiculous  tradition  of  the  elders  about 
the  washing  of  hands,  He  had  boldly  declared,  "Ye  hypo- 
crites!" and  that  they  teach  as  doctrines  the  commandment 
of  men.  And  now  they  are  going  to  tempt  Him  once  more. 
How  awful  this  attempt  appears  when  we  consider  the  dig- 
nity of  the  person  whom  they  try  to  tempt !  He  is  the  Wis- 
dom, the  Lord,  who  created  all  things ;  the  one  who  insti- 
tuted marriage  and  whose  fingers  wrote  upon  the  tables  of 
stone.  Instead  of  worshipping  Him  and  taking  their  place 
at  His  feet,  to  be  taught  by  Him,  they  try  in  their  blindness 
to  ensnare  Him.  But  why  do  they  bring  this  special  ques- 
tion about  putting  away  a  wife  for  any  cause?  Most 
likely  the  utterance  of  the  Lord  in  the  fifth  chapter  was 
reported  to  these  men.  There  the  Lawgiver  Himself  had 
declared :  "It  has  been  said,  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  let  him  give  her  a  letter  of  divorce.  But  I  say  unto 
you,  that  whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife  except  for 
cause  of  fornication  makes  her  commit  adultery,  and  who- 
soever marries  one  that  is  put  away  commits  adultery" 
(v:3i,  32).    This  word  must  have  been  a  very  hard  saying 


97 

for  those  men,  for  it  flatly  contradicted  the  rabbinical  say- 
ings. And  now .  they  think  they  have  a  fine  case  against 
Him.  If  He  but  commits  Himself  on  some  of  these  fine 
rabbinical  distinctions  about  the  cause  for  divorce  (later 
collected  in  the  talmudical  tract  Gittin)  they  would  have 
an  accusation  against  Him. 

Two  great  opinions  divided  then  the  Pharisees  about 
divorce.  Some  held  to  the  views  of  Hillel  and  others  to  the 
views  of  Shammai.  Hillel  had  taught  that  indeed  for  al- 
most every  cause  a  wife  may  be  put  away.  We  care  not  to 
fill  our  space  with  a  record  of  all  the  different  causes  for 
divorce  and  the  rules,  which  the  elders  had  laid  down  and 
which,  at  least  among  the  extremely  orthodox  Jews,  are 
still  conscientiously  followed.*  The  school  of  Hillel  de- 
clared openly,  and  practised  this,  that  if  the  wife  cooks  her 
husband's  food  badly,  by  over  salting  or  over  roasting  it, 
she  is  to  be  put  away.  The  school  of  Shammai,  to  which 
other  Pharisees  held,  permitted  not  divorces  except  in  the 
case  of  .adultery.  This  will  shed  more  light  on  the  tempta- 
tion of  these  Pharisees. 

And  now  the  Lord  speaks  in  answer  to  their  question: 
"But  He,  answering,  said  unto  them,  Have  ye  not  read  that 
He  who  made  them  from  the  beginning,  made  them  male 
and  female,  and  said,  On  account  of  this  a  man  shall  leave 
father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  united  to  his  wife,  and  the 
two  shall  be  one  flesh,  so  that  they  are  no  longer  two,  but 
one  flesh?     What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined  together,  let 


*It  has  often  been  our  experience  to  talk  with  some  poor  Jewish 
woman,  left  by  her  husband,  who  got  a  divorce  from  the  rabbi.  We 
remember  one  case  where  a  man  got  a  "Gctt" — a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment from  his  wife  for  an  insignificant  cause  and  came  to  this 
country  to  marry  again.  His  divorced  wife  followed  him  here. 
These  conditions  have  been  quite  a  problem  in  New  York  courts. 


$8 

not  man  separate"  (verses  4-7).  The  Lord  passes  over  all 
their  scholastic  reasonings ;  He  ignores  all  their  different 
opinions  and  has  not  a  word  to  say  about  the  law  as  given 
through  Moses.  He  goes  to  the  very  beginning  and  shows 
marriage  to  be  a  divinely  instituted  relationship.  And  mar- 
riage, as  instituted  by  the  Creator,  is  an  argument  against 
both  polygamy  and  divorce.  Blessed  institution  indeed,  and 
blessed  fact,  two  shall  be  one  flesh.  In  the  new  creation  the 
relationship  of  marriage  has  a  still  deeper  significance.  The 
second  half  of  Ephesians  v  acquaints  us  with  what  the  be- 
lieving husband  and  wife  represent.  Christ  and  the  church 
and  the  love  of  Christ,  the  obedience  of  the  church,  the 
oneness  which  exists  between  Christ  and  the  church,  all 
practically  to  be  seen  in  the  relationship  of  husband  and 
wife.  "For  no  one  has  ever  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nour- 
ishes and  cherishes  it,  even  as  also  the  Christ,  the  church; 
for  we  are  members  of  His  body;  of  His  flesh  and  of  His 
bones.  Because  of  this  a  man  shall  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  be  united  to  his  wife,  and  the  two  shall 
be  one  flesh.  This  mystery  is  great,  but  I  speak  as  to  Christ 
and  as  to  the  church"  (Eph.  v  129-32 ).  But  the  Pharisees 
have  an  answer  ready.  'They  say  to  Him,  Why  then  did 
Moses  command  to  give  a  letter  of  divorce  and  to  send  her 
away?"  But  even  in  this  they  were  erring.  It  was  not  a 
"command,"  but  something  which  Moses  allowed.  The 
law  had  much  to  say  about  the  suspicion  of  adultery,  in 
which  case  the  wife  had  to  undergo  a  trial  by  the  bitter 
waters  (Num.  v).  Actual  adultery  was  punishable  by 
death.  And  so  the  Lord  has  His  answer  for  their  objec- 
tion. "He  says,  Moses,  in  view  of  your  hardheartedness, 
allowed  you  to  put  away  your  wives ;  but  from  the  beginning 
it  was  not  thus.  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  shall 
put  away  his  wife,  not  for  fornication,  and  shall  marry 


99 

another,  commits  adultery;  and  he  who  marries  one  put 
away  commits  adultery"  (verses  8,  9). 

Moses  but  allowed  them  divorce  (Deut.  xxivu).  Adul- 
tery, however,  such  was  the  divine  law,  meant  death.  The 
Lord,  now  in  His  divine  authority  as  the  great  "I  am," 
gives  a  law  about  divorce,  which  is  binding.  Divorce,  put- 
ting away  a  wife  is  wrong,  except  in  case  of  unfaithfulness, 
adultery.  All  divorce  for  other  causes  is  sin,  and  who- 
soever marries  such  a  wrongly  divorced  person  commits 
adultery.  Many  questions  which  arise  here,  difficulties  in 
individual  cases,  complications  of  different  nature,  we  must 
pass  by.  And  yet  we  cannot  conclude  our  meditation  on 
these  verses,  without  calling  to  mind  the  condition,  which 
prevails  about  us,  in  professing  Christendom,  on  these  very 
things.  The  sacred  institution  of  marriage  has  never  been 
so  misused  as  in  these  days.  Society,  so  called,  is  corrupt 
in  morals.  Divorces  and  scandals  are  becoming  almost 
fashionable.  The  frightful  increase  of  unlawful  divorces 
and  prostitution  is  alarming  to  the  moralist  and  reformer. 
We  know,  however,  that  it  will  be  so  in  the  last  days,  for 
He  said,  "As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Lot,  so  shall  it  be  when 
the   Son  of  Man  cometh." 

"His  disciples  say  to  Him,  If  the  case  of  the  man  be  so 
with  his  wife,  it  is  not  good  to  marry.  And  He  said  to 
them,  All  cannot  receive  this  word,  but  those  to  whom  it 
has  been  given ;  for  there  are  eunuchs,  which  have  been 
born  thus  from  their  mother's  womb ;  and  there  are  eunuchs 
who  have  been  made  eunuchs  of  men ;  and  there  are  eunuchs 
who  have  been  made  eunuchs  of  themselves  for  the  sake  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens."  He  that  is  able  to  receive  it, 
let  him  receive  it  (verses  10-12). 

The  disciples,  with  their  question,  lay  bare  their  own 
hearts.  If  such  was  the  case,  they  think,  that  the  best  thing 
is  not  to  marry  at  all.     Lie  speaks  then  of  what  incapaci- 


100 

tates  for  marriage.  Some  are  unfitted  for  this  divinely 
instituted  relation  by  nature,  others  have  been  made  so  by 
wicked  men,  a  custom  still  largely  prevailing  in  the  Orient. 
There  is  a  third  class  who  are  exempt,  and  these  are  those 
who  have  made  themselves  eunuchs  for  the  sake  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens.  This  does  not  mean  mutilation. 
It  means,  no  doubt,  living  in  an  unmarried  state  for  the 
sake  of  the  kingdom.  It  .is  not  a  law,  not  an  obligation, 
nor  a  "sacrament."  Celibacy  is  a  man-made  and  wicked 
doctrine,  contrary  to  Scripture.  "He  that  is  able  to  receive 
it,  let  him  receive  it."  It  is  then  something  to  be  received, 
a  gift  from  above.  The  grace  and  power  of  God  is  able 
to  lift  some  to  whom  it  is  given,  above  the  natural  things 
of  life.  Paul  undoubtedly  was  such  a  one  to  whom  it  was 
given.  "For  I  would  that  all  men  were  even  as  myself. 
But  every  man  hath  his  proper  gift  of  God,  one  after  this 
manner,  and  another  after  that.  .  .  .  But  and  if  thou 
marry,  thou  hast  not  sinned ;  and  if  a  virgin  marry  she  hath 
not  sinned.  Nevertheless  such  shall  have  trouble  in  the 
flesh ;  but  I  spare  you.  But  this  I  say,  brethren,  the  time 
is  short,  it  remaineth,  that  both  they  that  have  wives  be  as 
though  they  had  none.  .  .  .  But  I  would  have  you  with- 
out carefulness.  He  that  is  unmarried  careth  for  the  things 
that  belong  to  the  Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord" 
(i  Cor.  vii:7,  28-32). 

And  now  the  scene  changes  once  more.  The  Pharisees 
with  their  temptation  had  been  silenced  by  the  Lord  and 
their  question  resulted  in  definite  teachings  from  the  lips 
of  the  great  Teacher  concerning  the  institution  of  marriage 
in  the  kingdom.  Another  question  is  now  to  be  answered  by 
Him,  the  question  of  the  relation  of  children  to  the  king- 
dom. In  the  eighteenth  chapter  the  Lord  had  put  a  little 
child  in  their  midst  and  had  said  "Unless  ye  are  converted 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  will  not  at  all  enter  into 


101 

the  kingdom  of  heaven ;"  but  here  little  children  are  brought 
to  Him. 

"Then  there  were  brought  to  Him  little  children,  that  He 
might  lay  His  hands  on  them  and  pray;  but  the  disciples 
rebuked  them"  (verse  13).  It  was  an  old  custom  among 
the  Jews  to  bring  children  to  an  acknowledged  teacher 
and  pious  man,  that  he  might  pronounce  a  blessing  upon 
them.  The  laying  on  of  hands  was  done  to  symbolize  the 
fulfilment  of  the  blessing  upon  the  head  of  the  little  one. 
These  little  ones  were,  therefore,  not  brought  to  Him  for 
healing  of  any  bodily  disease,  but  they  were  brought  to  be 
blest  by  Him.  Whose  children  they  were  is  not  stated. 
However,  it  is  very  improbable  that  they  were  the  children 
of  unbelieving  Jews;  these  were  rejecting  the  Lord  and 
wouM  hardly  bring  their  little  ones  to  Him.  They  must 
have  been  children  of  such,  who  believed  in  the  Lord,  and 
bringing  these  little  ones  to  Him  they  manifested  their  faith 
that  He  would  be  willing  to  bless  them  and  occupy  Himself 
with  them.  Most  likely  the  act  of  the  Lord  in  putting  the 
child  in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  and  his  previous  teach- 
ing about  the  little  ones,  was  an  incentive  to"  bring  boldly 
the  children  to  the  Lord  for  a  blessing.  How  strange  once 
more  the  behavior  of  the  disciples !  The  disciples  rebuked 
them.  They  had  listened  to  His  gracious  declarations  about 
the  little  ones  and  how  He  told  them,  that  he  who  humbles 
himself  as  a  little  child  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom,  and 
yet  they  understood  Him  not.  Did  they  want  to  keep  an 
annoyance  from  the  Lord?  Was  it  a  selfish  motive  which 
prompted  them  to  act  in  this  spirit?  Perhaps  they  thought 
these  little  ones  too  insignificant,  too  unworthy  for  Him  to 
bless.     What  could  He  do  with  these  little  ones? 

This  event  brings  out  a  very  important  and  alas !  too  often 
forgotten  declaration  from  our  Lord.  The  declaration  is 
that  the  little  ones  are  recognized  as  the  subjects  of  His 


102 

kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  There  is  a  place 
for  little  children  in  the  kingdom ;  they  are  a  part  of  it  is 
the  emphatic  teaching  of  the  passage  before- ns. 

"But  Jesus  said,  Suffer  little  children  and  do  not  hinder 
them  from  coming  to  me,  for  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens 
is  of  such;  and  having  laid  His  hands  upon  them,  He  de- 
parted thence."  With  such  a  definite  word  it  seems  next  to 
impossible  that  anyone  could  doubt  the  love  of  God  for  the 
little  ones.  Still  it  has  been  done ;  there  is  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  gracious  words  of  our  Lord,  which  makes  the 
little  children  types  of  believers,  and  that  only  such  who 
have  believed  are  meant.  In  Mark  and  in  Luke  (Mark 
xx  113;  Luke  xviii:i5)  the  Lord  adds,  "Verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a 
little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein,"  but  here  no 
such  addition  is  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  it  con- 
cerns the  relation  of  actual  little  ones  to  the  kingdom.  The 
Lord  takes  up  these  little  ones  and  approves  of  the  faith, 
which  had  presented  them  to  Him  for  a  blessing.  He  puts 
His  hands  upon  them  and  declares  that  these  little  ones  are 
a  part  of  the  kingdom.  How  much  like  Him  who  loves  to 
take  up  that  which  is  weak  and  lowly !  The  passage  is 
sufficient  to  teach  believers  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
a  loving  interest  in  the  little  ones,  looks  upon  them  as  be- 
longing to  Llis  kingdom  and  is  ready  to  bless  them.  But 
where  is  the  faith  from  the  side  of  believing  parents,  fully 
entering  into  His  thoughts  and  looking  upon  the  little  ones 
as  in  the  kingdom  presenting  these  to  Himself?  Alas! 
how  great  the  failure !  He  tells  us  of  His  willingness  to 
receive  them,  that  they  are  subjects  of  His  kingdom  and 
faith  should  act  upon  this  and  put  them  into  His  loving 
hands.  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved  and  thy  house"  (Acts  xvi:3i).  Faith  should  take 
hold  of  this  gracious  family  promise  and   claim  it.     Of 


103 

course,  this  does  not  say  that  personal  faith  is  unnecessary 
from  the  side  of  children. 

In  the  epistles  we  find  children  mentioned.  In  the  epistle, 
which  contains  God's  highest  revelation,  Ephesians,  chil- 
dren are  treated  as  belonging  to  the  Lord  in  the  believing 
family.  "Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord,  for  this 
is  just.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  which  is  the 
first  commandment  which  has  a  promise,  that  it  may  be 
well  with  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest  be  long-lived  on  the 
earth.  And  ye  fathers,  do  not  provoke  your  children  to 
anger,  but  bring  them  up  in  the  discipline  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord"  (Eph.  vin-4).  The  last  means  to  instruct 
them  in  the  things  of  the  Lord.  We  have  come  occasionally 
in  touch  with  good  Christian  people,  who  declared  it  wrong 
to  teach  a  child  to  pray  and  who  refused  to  tell  little  ones 
to  pray  to  God.  As  far  as  certain  forms  of  prayers  are 
concerned  we  are,  of  course,  fully  agreed  that  a  parrot- 
like repetition  of  prayers  is  to  be  avoided  and  harmful.  But 
to  teach  the  child  prayer,  the  expression  of  weakness  and 
dependence  on  God,  as  well  as  confidence  in  Him,  is  the 
first  lesson  to  be  taught.  We  think  it  a  wrong,  where  this 
is  not  done.  No  day  should  pass  in  the  home  of  believers, 
where  the  Word  is  not  read  and  the  knees  of  all  bow  before 
Him,  who  is  the  Head  over  all,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And 
if  through  the  grace  of  God  the  sweet  instructions  of 
Ephesians  v  122-32  are  carried  out  in  the  Christian  family, 
the  home  will  become  a  place  of  fragrance,  influence  and 
blessing. 

But  now  we  behold  another  one  appearing,  one  who 
had  been  a  little  one,  a  young  man,  and  he  is  asking  the 
way  to  eternal  life.  "And  lo,  one  coming  up  said  to  Him, 
Teacher,  what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  have  life 
eternal  ?  And  He  said  to  him,  What  askest  thou  me  con- 
cerning goodness  ?    One  is  good.    But  if  thou  wouldst  enter 


104 

into  life,  keep  the  commandments.  He  says  to  Him,  Which? 
And  Jesus  said,  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false 
witness,  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  and  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  The  young  man  says  to 
Him,  All  these  have  I  kept;  what  lack  I  yet?  Jesus  said 
to  him,  If  thou  wouldst  be  perfect,  go,  sell  what  thou  hast 
and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven, 
and  come,  follow  me.  But  the  young  man,  having  heard 
the  word,  went  away  grieved,  for  he  had  large  possessions" 
(verses  16-23). 

This  is  a  most  instructive  incident.  It  is  a  striking  por- 
trayal of  many  who  are  in  the  professing  sphere,  in  Christen- 
dom,  their  natural  and  moral  condition ;  and  the  teaching 
of  the  incident  is,  that  salvation  is  not  of  man,  not  depend- 
ing on  the  deeds  of  man,  but  salvation  is  of  God. 

The  young  man  is  a  typical  religious,  moral  and  natural 
man.  In  the  Gospel  of  Mark  we  read,  that  he  came  running 
and  kneeled  down  and  that  the  Lord  loved  him;  and  in 
Luke  we  find  that  he  was  a  young  ruler,  holding  an  ecclesi- 
astical position.  The  question  is  the  all  important  one  for 
the  religious  man,  the  question  of  how  to  obtain  eternal 
life.  He  is  in  ignorance  about  eternal  life.  In  spite  of  all 
his  religious  observations,  his  position,  his  good  moral  quali- 
ties, he  had  no  certainty,  no  assurance  of  life  eternal ;  though 
a  member  of  the  professing  people  of  God,  he  gropes  in 
the  dark.  And  is  this  not  the  case  of  the  so-called  Christian 
masses  of  our  day?  He  furthermore  expects  eternal  life 
from  God  as  the  reward  of  having  done  some  good  thing. 
He  wants  to  earn  eternal  life,  "do  and  live,"  as  the  law 
demands.  He  is  ignorant  of  the  great  fundamental  fact, 
that  he  is  with  all  his  religiousness  and  good  moral  quali- 
ties a  guilty  and  lost  sinner.  He  does  not  know  (the  blind- 
ness of  the  natural  man)   that  he  never  did  a  good  thing, 


which  pleased  God  and  that  he  can  never  do  any  good 
thing  from  himself.  And  this  is  equally  true  of  a  large 
number  of  subjects  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  who  are 
mere  professors  of  Christianity  and  who  are  unsaved  and 
strangers  to  the  grace  of  God.  And  now  the  Lord's  deal- 
ing with  him.  He  gives  him,  first  of  all,  to  understand 
that  only  One  is  good  and  that  One  is,  of  course,  God. 
"Good  master,"  said  he,  according  to  the  other  record. 
He  looked  upon  the  Lord  as  a  good  man  merely,  and  this 
He  at  once  repudiates.  God  alone  is  good,  and  the  One 
the  young  man  addressed  is  "God  manifested  in  the  flesh." 
He  was  ignorant  of  His  person.  The  Lord  then  meets 
him  on  his  own  ground.  The  ground  upon  which  he  stands 
is  the  law,  and  with  the  law  the  Lord  answers  his  ques- 
tion. How  else  could  He  treat  him?  The  first  need  for 
him  was  to  know  himself  a  lost  and  helpless  sinner.  If 
the  Lord  had  spoken  of  His  grace,  of  eternal  life  as  a 
free  gift,  he  would  not  have  understood  Him  at  all.  The 
law  was  needed  to  make  known  to  him  his  desperate  con- 
dition and  to  lay  bare  his  heart.  And  the  Lord  who 
searches  the  hearts  does  this  for  him.  With  a  few  sentences 
he  uncovers  the  true  state  of  the  young  man,  who  leaves 
Him  grieved,  full  of  sorrow  ;  he  had  many  possessions  and 
he  would  not  part  with  them.  He  had  declared  that  he 
loved  his  neighbor  as  himself;  had  he  done  so  he  would 
have  readily  sold  his  possessions,  given  them  to  the  poor 
and  followed  the  Lord.  As  a  natural  man,  he  could  not 
and  would  not  do  it. 

In  type  this  young,  religious  man  "touching  the  right- 
eousness which  is  in  the  law  blameless,"  stands  for  the  self- 
righteous  Jewish  people,  turned  away  from  the  Lord  with 
sorrow  and  yet  loved  by  Him. 

"And  Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  Verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
a  rich  man  shall  with  difficulty  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 


io6 

the  heavens,  and  again  I  say  unto  you,  It  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  enter  a  needle's  eye  than  a  rich  man  into  the  king- 
dom of  God"  (verses  23,  24).  The  verse  tells  us  that  the 
natural  man,  like  the  rich  ruler,  burdened  by  his  possessions 
and  under  the  control  of  the  world  and  the  god  of  this  age, 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  illustration  of 
the  camel  and  the  needle's  eye  was  a  well-known  Jewish 
phrase  in  the  days  of  our  Lord.  It  is  an  impossible  thing 
that  a  camel  laden  down  with  goods  could  pass  through  the 
eye  of  a  needle;  just  as  impossible  is  it  for  the  natural  rich 
man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  astonishment  the 
disciples  now  turn  to  the  Lord  with  the  question,  a  ques- 
tion perfectly  in  order  after  such  a  solemn  declaration. 
"And  when  the  disciples  heard  it  they  were  exceedingly 
astonished,  saying,  Who,  then,  can  be  saved?  But  Jesus, 
looking  on  them,  said,  With  men  this  is  impossible ;  but 
with  God  all  things  are  possible"  (verses  25,  26).  Here  is 
a  bright  and  glorious  flashing  forth  of  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Llis  words  are  a  blessed  indication 
of  what  His  loving  heart  knew  so  well,  that  salvation  is  of 
God.  With  men  salvation  is  impossible,  to  get  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  an  impossibility,  but  God,  in  His  marvelous 
grace  in  Christ  Jesus  has  made  it  possible.  The  gift  of 
God  is  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

And  now  the  last  paragraph  of  this  most  interesting 
chapter. 

It  is  Peter  once  more  who  steps  into  the  foreground  as 
mouthpiece  of  the  disciples.  Again  he  acts  and  speaks  in 
the  flesh.  Indeed,  all  through  this  Gospel  Peter  shows 
himself  self-centered  and  self-seeking  and  intruding  in  that 
spirit  into  the  things  of  the  Lord.  Only  once  was  this  not 
the  case,  and  that  was  when  the  Father  in  heaven  had  given 
to  him  the  revelation  concerning  His  Son  (Matt.  xvi). 
With  what  selfconscionsness  and  feeling  of  superiority  Peter 


107 

must  have  looked  upon  the  young  ruler  as  he  sneaked 
away  with  hanging  head.  And  then,  instead  of  bowing  in 
silence  and  wonder  after  the  Lord  had  flashed  forth  His 
grace  and  truth,  he  thinks  of  himself.  "Then,  Peter  answer- 
ing said  to  Him,  Behold  we  have  left  all  things  and  have 
followed  Thee;  what  then  shall  happen  to  us?"  Self  is 
here  prominently  before  us.  But  the  Lord  in  His  gracious- 
ness  is  far  from  rebuking  Peter ;  He  makes  the  self-gratify- 
ing question  the  basis  of  still  further  teaching  by  speaking 
of  the  future  rewards  of  His  own  who  follow  Him  and 
share  His  rejection. 

"And  Jesus  said  to  them,  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye 
who  have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son 
of  Man  shall  sit  down  upon  His  throne  of  glory,  ye  also 
shall  sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.  And  every  one  who  has  left  houses,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands, 
for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  a  hundredfold,  and  shall 
inherit  eternal  life.  But  many  first  shall  be  last,  and  last 
first"  (verses  28-30).  Here  is  the  declaration  of  an  im- 
portant principle,  the  principle  of  rewards  in  glory.  What- 
ever a  disciple,  a  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  done 
or  suffered  for  His  sake  will  not  be  forgotten.  This,  how- 
ever, does  not  mean  that  we  can  earn  a  position  in  glory ; 
it  is  grace  and  grace  alone,  which  has  brought  us  there. 
Service  and  self-denial  of  a  believer  are  the  results  of  grace,' 
and  so  the  rewards  are  mercies,  nothing  else.  But  it  is 
glorious  to  think,  He  remembers  all,  yea  even  the  cup  of 
cold  water  given  in  His  name  and  for  all  we  shall  find  in 
His  presence  a  recompense. 

Besides  the  principle  of  rewards  we  have  here  dispensa- 
tional  teachings.  The  Lord  speaks  of  the  time  of  regenera- 
tion. There  is  a  time  of  regeneration  coming,  when  all 
things  will  be  made  over,  when  groaning  creation  is  de- 


io8 

livered  and  the  reign  of  Satan  and  of  sin  ends.  It  is  the 
millennial  age.  Throughout  the  Old  Testament  the  prophets 
declare  this  great  regeneration,  in  the  promises,  which  are 
so  universally  spiritualized  in  our  day.  This  regeneration 
is  not  yet ;  and  it  cannot  come  as  long  as  the  Son  of  Man 
does  not  occupy  the  throne  of  His  glory.  He  will  not 
occupy  that  throne  as  long  as  His  fellow  heirs  are  not 
with  Him.  Everything  then  in  its  order.  The  completion 
of  the  church,  as  to  numbers,  the  removal  of  the  church 
to  meet  Him  in  the  air,  His  coming  with  His  saints  in 
glory,  His  own  throne,  which  He  will  occupy  and  then, 
and  not  before,  the  regeneration. 

The  promise  here  to  the  disciples  is  a  specific  one  for 
them,  and  does  not  mean  other  believers.  In  the  kingdom, 
the  reign  of  Christ  over  the  earth,  the  disciples  will  hold  a 
glorious  position  in  connection  with  the  government  of  the 
earth  through  Israel  and  occupy  twelve  thrones.  The  saints 
will  judge  the  world.  As  He  received  of  His  Father, 
so  shall  the  overcomer  receive  from  His  hands.  (Rev. 
ii  126-28.) 

We  have  gone  through  a  most  blessed  chapter  in  which 
all  is  connected  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  teaching  is  con- 
tinued in  the  next,  and  the  last  sentence  of  the  nineteenth 
chapter  belongs  to  the  twentieth  chapter.  "But  many  first 
shall  be  last,  and  last  first,"  its  meaning  is  explained  by  the 
Lord  in  a  parable. 


109 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Lord  had  spoken  about  the  rewards  to  be  given  at  the 
time  when  the  kingdom  is  to  be  established  on  the  earth 
in  power  and  glory,  the  time  of  regeneration.  His  last 
word  in  the  nineteenth  chapter  was  the  statement,  ''many 
that  are  first  shall  be  last ;  and  the  last  shall  be  first."  If 
we  turn  to  our  chapter  we  find  the  same  words  again.  "So 
the  last  shall  be  first,  and  the  first  last ;  for  many  are  called 
ones,  but  few  are  chosen  ones"  (verse  16).  It  is  evident 
by  the  word  "so"  that  the  Lord  gives  us  the  interpretation 
of  this  sentence  in  the  first  part  of  the  twentieth  chapter, 
and,  as  already  indicated,  the  last  verse  of  the  nineteenth 
chapter  belongs  properly  to  the  beginning  of  the  chapter 
which  follows.  A  parable  it  is  by  which  the  Lord  con- 
tinues to  teach  about  the  rewards  of  the  kingdom.  "But 
many  first  shall  be  last,  and  last  first.  For  the  kingdom  of 
the  heavens  is  like  a  householder  who  went  out  with  the 
early  morning  to  hire  workmen  for  his  vineyard.  And  hav- 
ing agreed  with  the  workmen  for  a  denarius  a  day,  he  sent 
them  into  his  vineyard.  And  having  gone  out  about  the 
third  hour,  he  saw  others  standing  in  the  market  place  idle ; 
and  to  them  he  said :  Go  also  ye  into  the  vineyard,  and 
whatsoever  may  be  just  I  will  give  you.  And  they  went 
their  way.  Again,  having  gone  out  about  the  sixth  and  ninth 
hour,  he  did  likewise.  But  about  the  eleventh  hour,  having 
gone  out,  he  found  others  standing,  and  says  to  them,  Why 
stand  ye  here  all  day  idle?  They  say  to  him,  because  no 
man  has  hired  us.  He  says  to  them,  Go  also  ye  into  the  vine- 
yard and  whatsoever  may  be.  just  ye  shall  receive.    But  when 


no 

the  evening  was  come  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  says  to  his 
steward,  Call  the  workmen  and  pay  them  their  wages,  be- 
ginning from  the  last  even  to  the  first.  And  when  they  who 
came  to  work  about  the  eleventh  hour  came,  they  received 
each  a  denarius.  And  when  the  first  came  they  supposed 
that  they  would  receive  more,  and  they  received  also  them- 
selves each  a  denarius.  And  on  receiving  it  they  murmured 
against  the  master  of  the  house,  saying,  these  last  have 
worked  one  hour,  and  thou  hast  made  them  equal  to  us,  who 
have  borne  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heat.  But  he, 
answering,  said  to  one  of  them,  My  friend,  I  do  not  wrong 
thee.  Didst  thou  not  agree  with  me  for  a  denarius?  Take 
what  is  thine  and  go.  But  it  is  my  will  to  give  to  this  last 
even  as  to  thee,  is  it  not  lawful,  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  in 
my  own  affairs?  Is  thine  eye  evil  because  I  am  good?  So 
shall  the  last  be  first  and  the  first  last ;  for  many  are  called 
ones,  but  few  chosen  ones." 

This  parable  has  difficulties  to  many  readers  of  the  Bible, 
and  all  kinds  of  interpretations  have  been  attempted.  Some 
of  these  are  altogether  wrong  and  contradict  Scripture. 
Among  them  we  mention  the  exposition  of  the  denarius  or 
penny  to  mean  eternal  life  and  salvation.  Thus  Luther 
states  on  this  parable,  and  after  him  many  other  com- 
mentators, "the  penny  which  each  receives,  whether  he  has 
labored  much  or  little,  is  His  Son  Jesus,  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  deliverance  from  death,  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  finally 
He  gives  eternal  life."  That  this  is  wrong  needs  hardly 
to  be  mentioned.  The  salvation  of  the  sinner  is  here  not 
at  all  in  view.  If  it  were  true  that  the  penny,  which  all 
receive  alike,  means  salvation,  then  salvation  would  have 
to  be  worked  for  and  earned  by  man  as  a  laborer.  This 
strikes  at  grace  and  the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
on  the  cross.  No,  the  question  of  the  parable  is  not  the 
question  of  salvation, 


Ill 

Again,  others,  recognizing  that  it  is  about  rewards  in  the 
kingdom  of  which  the  Lord  speaks,  have  claimed  that  the 
teaching  is  that  there  will  be  no  diversities  or  degrees  of 
rewards  in  the  kingdom,  but  all  will  receive  alike  from  the 
hands  of  the  Lord.  This,  too,  is  wrong,  for  it  is  in  opposi- 
tion, to  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures.  The  difficulty  of 
this  parable  will  easily  be  overcome,  if  we  take  into  con- 
sideration that  a  parable  is  an  allegorical  representation  by 
which  a  principle  is  demonstrated  or  a  moral  is  drawn  for 
instruction.  It  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  correct  to  think  that 
everything  in  a  parable  must  have  a  specific  meaning  and 
must  be  spiritually  applied.  As  soon  as  we  enter  into  the 
details  of  this  parable  and  attempt  a  detailed  exposition  and 
try  to  make  an  application  of  these,  we  shall  miss  the  true 
lesson,  and,  perhaps,  in  the  attempt,  teach  exactly  the  oppo- 
site from  what  the  Lord  teaches.  We  do  not  think  that 
the  penny,  or,  as  it  is  correctly  translated,  denarius,  has  a 
special  spiritual  meaning  at  all.  It  simply  stands  for  some- 
thing received.  Men  have  tried  to  ascertain  the  time  when 
the  laborers  were  hired,  what  is  meant  by  the  morning,  by 
the  third  hour,  the  sixth  hour,  the  ninth  hour  and  the 
eleventh.  Some  have  fixed  these  different  hours  and  declare 
that  the  early  morning  laborers  were  the  apostles,  the  early 
Christians,  and  the  eleventh  hour  workers,  the  laborers  liv- 
ing in  our  days.  Now,  if  we  are  authorized  to  seek  a  mean- 
ing in  all  these  terms  and  give  it  such  an  interpretation, 
then  we  must  do  so  with  every  statement  found  here.  Ac- 
cording to  this  the  early  morning  workers  would  murmur  in 
the. presence  of  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard,  then  there  would 
be  murmuring  in  the  day  when  the  rewards  are  distributed. 

We  have  to  pass  over  the  details  and  look  for  the  great 
lesson  which  our  teacher  desires  to  bring  to  our  hearts  in 
this  parable. 

We  have  already  shown  how  closely  the  parable  is  con- 


112 

nected  with  the  events  recorded  at  the  close  of  the  previous 
chapter.  There  one,  who  was  rich  in  himself  and  knew  not 
his  true  condition,  and  rich  in  possessions,  had  gone  away 
sorrowful  from  the  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  had  declared,  while 
salvation  is  impossible  with  men,  all  things  are  possible  with 
God.  Salvation  is  of  God.  It  is  grace  which  has  saved  us. 
"For  ye  are  saved  by  grace,  through  faith"  (Eph.  ii:8). 
That  grace  has  brought  salvation,  what  all  is  included  in 
this  we  cannot  follow  here.  But  then  one,  a  saved  one, 
Peter,  spoke  and  though  it  was  self  which  uttered  these 
words,  the  Lord  gave  Peter  and  the  disciples  a  gracious 
answer.  He  assured  them  that  there  was  a  time  coming 
when  they  should  receive  a  reward  and  that  He  would  not 
forget  the  service,  self-denial  and  sacrifice  of  His  own. 

But  with  this  declaration,  so  comforting  to  the  hearts  of 
the  disciples,  there  is  a  great  danger  connected.  The  dan- 
ger is  that  the  believer  may  forget  that  he  is  a  debtor  to 
grace  and  to  grace  alone,  that  all  he  has,  he  is  and  he  ever 
will  be  in  all  eternity  is  the  result  of  grace.  He  may  be- 
come occupied  with  his  service,  his  sacrifice  and  expecting 
rewards,  lose  sight  of  grace  and  become  thoroughly  self- 
righteous.  God  does  not  want  us  to  get  our  hearts  away 
from  His  riches  of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  delighted 
with  His  children  when  they  magnify  that  wonderful  grace, 
when  they  cast  themselves  upon  it ;  never  can  we  make  too 
much  of  grace.  To  keep  the  disciple  from  a  spirit  of  self- 
righteousness  as  well  as  occupation  with  service  and  re- 
wards, the  Lord  brings  in  this  parable.  The  great  principle 
which  He  teaches  is,  that  God  will  give  the  rewards  in  His 
own  sovereignty,  as  it  seems  best  to  Him,  never  out  of  har- 
mony with  His  wonderful  justice.  "Should  not  the  judge 
of  the  whole  earth  do  right?"  (Gen.  xviii:25.)  "The  prin- 
ciple is  this,  that  while  God  owns  every  service  and  loss  for 
the  sake  of  Christ,  yet  He  maintains  His  own  title  to  do  as 
He  will." 


"3 

While  we  labor,  our  labor  is  not  to  be  for  the  sake  of 
reward,  as  one  who  is  hired  for  a  certain  sum  of  money. 
We  are  to  be  laborers  with  no  trace  of  legality  about  us. 
The  servant,  the  laborer  who  has  the  thought  before  the 
soul  to  earn  something  by  his  service  and  sacrifice,  lives  but 
to  himself,  and  would  be  only  a  hired  servant,  which  the 
believer  is  not.  Such  a  one,  though  he  has  stood  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day,  would  find  the  Lord  acting  on  the 
principle  expounded  here  by  Himself.  He  will  hear  from 
Him :  "Take  what  is  thine  and  go.  But  if  it  is  my  will  to  give 
to  this  last  even  as  to  thee ;  is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do 
what  I  will  in  my  own  affairs?"  The  Lord  wants  us  to 
trust  grace  and  trust  the  rewards,  the  recompense  to  Him 
and  His  own  will  to  give  as  it  pleases  Him,  and  not  think 
anything  of  our  service.  Thus  the  parable  appears  as  a  re- 
buke to  Peter,  who  was  occupied  with  what  he  had  given  up. 

"The  first  shall  be  last;"  thus  the  parable  began,  and  it 
indicates  the  human  failure.  At  the  end  of  the  parable  the 
order  is  reversed,  the  last  shall  be  first;  the  Lord,  in  His 
sovereign  grace  will  lift  up  those  who  trusted  in  His  grace. 
"Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen  ones,"  which  has 
nothing  to  do  with  salvation,  but  is  in  connection  with  re- 
wards. 

And  now  we  are  told  that  the  Lord  went  up  to  Jerusalem, 
and  as  He  directs  His  steps  there  He  announces  once  more 
the  fact  of  His  coming  passion,  death  and  resurrection. 
"And  Jesus,  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  took  the  twelve  disciples 
with  Him  apart  in  the  way,  and  said  to  them,  Behold  we 
go  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  Son  of  Man  will  be  delivered 
up  to  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  they  will  condemn 
Him  to  death ;  and  they  will  deliver  Him  up  to  the  nations 
to  mock  and  to  scourge  and  to  crucify,  and  the  third  day 
He  shall  rise  again"  (verses  17-19).  And  as  He  uttered 
these  solemn  words,  His  soul  knew  all  what  it  meant  for 


114 

Him  and  the  bitter  cup  He  was  to  drink  to  the  very  last 
drop.  Some  have  taught  and  teach  that  it  dawned  upon 
Him  gradually  and  that  He  was  not  conscious  of  all  which 
was  before  Him.  But  He  knew  everything  which  would 
happen  to  Him  in  Jerusalem,  for  His  own  Spirit  had  re- 
vealed these  sufferings  in  the  prophets  (i  Pet.  i:ii).  What 
awe  and  silence  must  have  rested  upon  the  disciples  as  He 
acquainted  them  with  the  path  He  was  to  go !  In  Mark 
we  read  that  they  were  amazed,  and  as  they  followed  they 
were  afraid  (Mark  x:32).  In  the  Gospel  of  Luke  the  Holy 
Spirit  gives  additional  information :  "And  they  understood 
none  of  these  things,  and  this  saying  was  hid  from  them ; 
neither  knew  they  the  things  which  were  spoken"  (Luke 
xviii:34).  He  alone  knew  the  meaning  of  all  before  Him, 
and  as  the  hour  draweth  near,  for  which  He  had  come  into 
the  world,  when  He  was  to  be  delivered  up  and  to  die,  we 
see  Him  setting  His  face  like  a  flint  to  go  to  Jerusalem. 

But  now  we  hear  the  silence  broken.  It  is  a  woman  who 
approaches  Him.  "Then  came  to  Him  the  mother  of  Zebe- 
dee's  children  with  her  sons,  doing  homage  and  asking 
something  of  Him.  And  He  said  to  her,  What  wilt  thou? 
She  says  to  Him,  Speak  the  Word  that  these,  my  two  sons, 
may  sit,  one  on  thy  right  hand  and  one  on  thy  left  in  thy 
kingdom"  (verses  20,  21).  Self-seeking,  the  ambition  of 
the  flesh,  is  here  again  in  evidence.  Most  likely  the  words 
of  our  Lord  in  answer  to  Peter's  words  in  chapter  xix 
prompted  this  desire.  He  had  spoken  of  those  that  followed 
Him,  that,  in  the  regeneration,  they  should  occupy  twelve 
thrones  and  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  This  word 
impressed  itself,  no  doubt,  upon  the  mother  of  the  sons  of 
Zebedee,  as  well  as  upon  the  sons  themselves,  John  and 
James.  It  was  a  custom  of  Oriental  kings  to  have  a  person 
sit  at  their  right  hand  and  one  on  the  left ;  and  so  the  wish 
is  uttered  for  places  of  honor  in  His  Kingdom.    The  mother 


H5 

of  Zebedee's  sons  here  leads;  from  the  Gospel  of  Mark  we 
learn  that  John  and  James  made  the  request.  This  is  no 
discrepancy,  as  often  called  by  unbelievers  in  the  verbal 
inspiration  of  the  Bible.  Both  mother  and  sons  came  to- 
gether, having  both  the  same  wish.  The  mother's  desire 
and  request  was  the  desire  and  request  of  the  sons.  In 
Mark's  Gospel  the  sons  are  in  the  foreground,  and  in  Mat- 
thew the  mother.  This  is  seen  by  the  fact  that  the  Lord 
does  not  answer  the  mother  at  all.  And  the  ten  were  in- 
dignant about  the  two  brothers.  The  parable  the  Lord 
had  just  given  concerning  the  workmen  in  the  vineyard 
was  not  understood  by  them  all.  The  request  is  the  mani- 
festation of  self.  Peter  had  been  uncovered  in  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  and  now  we  find  that  in  the  beloved  disciple, 
in  John  and  in  James,  the  same  evil  thing  is  present.  But 
all  brings  out  His  own  perfection  and  His  glory;  the  im- 
perfection and  selfishness  of  His  disciples  reveals  His  per- 
fection. 

"And  Jesus,  answering,  said,  Ye  know  not  what  ye  ask. 
Can  ye  drink  the  cup  which  I  am  about  to  drink?  They 
say  to  Him,  We  are  able;  He  says  to  them,  Ye  shall  drink 
indeed  my  cup,  and  to  sit  on  my  right  hand  and  on  my  left 
is  not  mine  to  give,  but  to  those  for  whom  it  is  prepared 
by  my  Father"  (verses  22-24).*  How  lovingly  and  with 
what  patience  He  reproves  her.  There  is  no  harshness 
about  it,  but  it  is  &11  tenderness  and  grace.  They  did,  in- 
deed, know  not  what  they  asked.  He  asks  them  if  they 
could  drink  the  cup  He  was  about  to  drink.  A  cup  was  to 
be  drunk  by  Him,  and  this  cup  stands  for  all  the  agony  He 
was     about     to     suffer.      They     knew     nothing     of     that 


*The  words  "and  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  bap- 
tized with,"  are  left  out,  also  the  same  words  in  the  23d  verse.  They 
are  an  interpolation  in  Matthew. 


n6 

cup  He  was  about  to  drink;  nothing  of  the  suffering  and 
the  cross  which  was  before  Him.  It  was  their  own  selfish- 
ness and  a  presumption  that  they  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive. They  think  they  are  able  without  knowing  what  the 
cup  was. 

He  tells  them  that  they  should  indeed  drink  His  cup. 
They  were  to  be  partakers  of  His  sufferings  and  have  fel- 
lowship with  it.  That  this  does  not  mean  the  sufferings 
our  Lord  had  to  undergo  from  the  side  of  God  is  evident. 
He  alone  could  suffer  thus,  and  no  human  being  could  fol- 
low Him  there.  They  would  drink  His  cup,  which  not 
alone  contained  the  suffering  from  God,  but  sufferings 
from  men,  rejection,  reproach,  and  much  else  besides.  In 
His  rejection  and  sufferings  from  men  they  had  to  enter 
in.  And  to  this  we  are  also  called.  ''For  even  hereunto 
were  ye  called,  because  Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving 
us  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  in  His  steps"  (i  Pet. 
ii:2i).  Paul  speaks  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  "I  now 
rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  you,  and  fill  up  that  which  is 
behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh  for  His  body's 
sake,  which  is  the  church"  (Col.  1:24).  "That  I  may  know 
Him,  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship 
of  His  sufferings,  being  made  conformable  unto  His  death" 
(Phil.  iii:io). 

And  now  we  see  the  place  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  takes 
in  His  humiliation.  He  came  not  to  do  His  own  will,  but 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Him.  To  say  that  He  did  not 
know  to  whom  the  places  of  honor  in  the  kingdom  belonged, 
or  that  He  has  no  right  to  give  these  places  and  bestow 
these  honors,  would  be  dishonoring  to  His  person.  He  both 
knew  it,  and  had  a  right  to  place  in  the  seats  of  honor 
whomsoever  He  chooses.  He  had  humbled  Himself  and 
had  come  to  exalt  the  Father,  and  here  He  shows  forth 
His  place  He  had  taken.    He  declares  in  that  perfect  humilia- 


tion  that  it  is  not  for  Him  to  give  these  places,  but  for  the 
Father.  Here  is  a  marvelous  depth  of  precious  truth.  The 
One  equal  with  the  Father  in  all  eternity,  One  with  the 
Father,  truly  God  in  all  eternity,  without  any  beginning, 
came  and  humbled  Himself,  made  of  Himself  no  reputation., 
He  came  to  do  the  wili  of  the  Father  to  the  Glory  and 
Praise  of  His  name.  He  put  Himself  in  the  place  of  humilia- 
tion, under  the  Father,  though  ever  Jehovah  while  in  the 
earth.  Raised  from  the  dead,  highly  exalted,  seated  on  the 
right  hand  of  God,  though  absolutely  and  eternally  one  with 
God,  the  Father,  He  yet,  as  glorified  Man,  does  the  Father's 
will,  subject  to  the  Father.  When  every  knee  at  last  bows 
and  every  tongue  confesses  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  it 
will  be  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  It  is  the  glory  of 
the  Father  which  is  His  aim.  In  this  light  I  Cor.  xv:27,'28 
are  correctly  understood:  "For  He  (the  Father)  hath  put 
all  things  under  His  feet.  But  when  He  saith  all  things 
are  put  under  Him,  it  is  manifest  that  He  is  exempted,  which 
did  put  all  things  under  Him."  The  Father  is  meant  and 
the  Son  of  God  incarnate,  as  glorified  Man  is  under  Him, 
though  as  God  the  Son  absolutely  One  with  the  Father. 
But  still  more :  "And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto 
Him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  Himself  be  subject  unto  Him, 
that  put  all  things  under  Him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all." 
Such  passages  have  ever  been  used  by  the  subtlety  of  the 
enemy  to  rob  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  of  His  absolute  Deity. 
So  has  the  word  in  our  chapter  been  construed  to  mean  that 
the  Lord  is  inferior  to  the  Father. 

"And  the  ten,  having  heard  of  it,  were  indignant  about 
the  two  brothers"  (verse  24).  This  is  a  verse  which  tells 
us  much.  One  could  easily  draw  a  picture  of  the  ten  Jews, 
how  they  gesticulated  and  showed  their  indignation  by 
looks  and  words.  What  kind  of  an  indignation  was  it? 
Did  perhaps  Peter  say,  "too  bad  for  John  and  James  to 


n8 

intrude  thus  upon  the  Lord,  and  after  He  made  such  art 
announcement  to  disturb  Him ;  and  then  the  mother  came 
also;  what  do  they  mean  anyway  by  such  a  selfish  desire?" 
did  he  speak  thus?  We  think  not.  Most  likely  Peter  was 
very  much  occupied  with  his  own  case,  and  the  words, 
"keys  of  kingdom,"  were  ringing  in  his  ears.  The  pride 
in  these  two  they  most  likely  recognized,  as  well  as  the 
forwardness  of  the  mother.  It  was,  however,  their  own 
pride  which  moved  them  to  indignation.  And  thus  it  is 
repeated  over  and  over  again.  The  fault-finding  spirit  is 
rarely  anything  less  than  the  manifestation  of  the  same  evil. 
What  often  a  brother  accuses  his  brother  of  is  just  that 
what  he  himself  does. 

This  indignation  of  the  disciples  brings  out  another  gra- 
cious instruction  from  the  Lord.  Once  more  he  teaches  in 
perfect  patience  His  poor  erring  ones.  And  oh !  Praise  to 
His  name !  He  is  ever  the  same.  We  are  all  His  dull  and 
weak  disciples,  and  the  graciousness  and  patience  He  mani- 
fests here  He  has  manifested  towards  us  a  thousand  times. 
And  still  He  teaches ;  He  bears  us  and  treats  us  with  such 
loving  tenderness.  Why  do  we  not  learn  from  Him  how  to 
deal  with  a  weak  and  erring  brother? 

"But  Jesus,  having  called  them  to  Him,  said,  Ye  know 
that  the  rulers  of  the  nations  exercise  lordship  over  them, 
and  the  great  exercise  authority  over  them.  It  shall  not 
be  thus  amongst  you,  but  whosoever  will  be  great  among 
you  shall  be  your  servant ;  and  whosoever  will  be  first  among 
you,  let  him  be  your  bondman ;  as,  indeed,  the  Son  of  Man 
did  not  come  to  be  served,  but  to  serve,  and  to  give  His 
life  a  ransom  for  many"  (verses  25-28). 

The  mistake  the  disputing  disciples  had  made  was  to  think 
of  His  Kingdom,  like  the  kingdoms  of  the  nations.  He  dis- 
pels this  conception ;  it  would  be  the  very  opoosite  from 
what  it  is  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  nations.     The  greatest 


ii9 

in  His  Kingdom  are  those  who  are  servants  and 
the  bondman  is  the  first.  He  Himself,  the  Son  of  Man, 
came  to  serve.  Blessed  words  are  these  indeed,  lowering 
all  that  is  of  self,  dethroning  pride  and  ambition,  teaching 
us  to  let  this  mind  be  in  us  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus. 

1  he  closing  scene  of  this  chapter  is  the  healing  of  the 
two  blind  men.  The  Lord  is  departing  with  His  disciples 
from  Jericho,  followed  by  a  great  multitude,  going  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  fulfil  all  that  which  was  written  concerning 
Him.  The  incident  before  us  is  the  beginning  of  the  end 
and  one  of  the  last  miracles  of  healing  recorded  in  this 
Gospel. 

"And  as  they  went  out  from  Jericho  a  great  multitude 
followed  Him.  And  lo,  two  blind  men,  sitting  by  the  way- 
side, having  heard  that  Jesus  was  passing  by,  cried  out, 
saying,  Have  mercy  on  us,  Lord,  Son  of  David.  But  the 
multitude  rebuked  them,  that  they  might  be  silent.  But 
they  cried  out  the  more,  saying,  Have  mercy  on  us,  Lord, 
Son  of  David.  And  Jesus,  having  stopped,  called  them 
and  said,  What  will  ye  that  I  shall  do  to  you  ?  They  say  to 
Him,  Lord,  that  our  eyes  may  be  opened.  And  Jesus, 
moved  with  compassion,  touched  their  eyes,  and  immediately 
their  eyes  had  sight  restored  to  them,  and  they  followed 
Him"  (verses  29-34). 

We  had  before  a  similar  miracle  in  this  Gospel.  In  the 
ninth  chapter,  when  Jesus  departed,  two  blind  men  fol- 
lowed Him,  and  they,  too,  cried  to  Him  as  Son  of  David, 
and  He  touched  and  healed  them  (chapter  ix:27-3i).  The 
miracle  there  preceded  the  sending  out  of  the  twelve  to 
preach  that  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  at  hand.  Here 
the  healing  of  the  two  blind  men  stands  at  the  close  of  the 
Galilean  ministry  and  precedes  His  triumphant  entry  into 
Jerusalem. 

It  has  significance  in  different  directions.    These  two  men 


120 

were  witnesses  to  Him.  They  cried  to  Him  as  Lord  and 
Son  of  David.  When  in  Caesarea  Philippi  He  had  asked 
His  disciples  what  men  say  of  Him.  The  answer  showed 
then  that  His  own  knew  Him  not.  None  said  that  He  is 
the  Son  of  David,  His  messianic  title.  Before  a  Gentile, 
the  Canaanitish  woman,  had  called  to  Him  as  Lord,  Son 
of  David,  and  He  had  not  answered  till  she  had  dropped 
"Son  of  David."  There  was  no  confession  from  the  side 
of  the  multitudes  of  Him  as  Son  of  David,  no  appeal  to 
Him  as  such.  This  fully  shows  the  condition  of  the  people, 
the  great  multitude  who  had  seen  Him,  beheld  His  miracles 
and  heard  His  words.  They  did  not  believe  on  Him  as 
the  promised  One,  the  Son  of  David,  the  King  and  Re- 
deemer of  Israel.  Quite  true  we  read  in  the  next  chapter 
that  the  multitudes  who  went  before  Him  and  who  followed 
cried,  saying:  "Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David!"  But  this 
never  came  from  the  heart.  It  was  the  temporary  enthu- 
siasm of  a  great  multitude  of  excitable  Jews.  Soon  their 
cry  changes  and  they  say:  "This  is  Jesus  the  prophet, 
who  is  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee !" 

While  then  the  great  mass  of  people  presses  around  Him, 
following  Him  from  Jericho,  there  comes  the  voice  of  the 
two  blind  men,  moved,  no  doubt,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
they  confess  Him  as  Son  of  David.  Had  they  cried  to 
Him  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth  or  simply  as  "Lord"  their  witness 
would  have  not  fitted  into  the  scene  at  all.  But  as  Son  of 
David  and  Heir  to  the  Throne  of  David,  He  was  to  be 
presented  to  Jerusalem,  and  ere  this  takes  place  He  has  the 
witness  of  two  witnesses  that  He  is  the  Son  of  David. 
According  to  the  law  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  was 
necessary.  The  Holy  Spirit  here  supplies  these  in  the  cry 
of  the  two  blind  men  at  the  wayside.  This  is  the  reason 
why  two  blind  men  are  mentioned  exclusively  in  the  first 
Gospel,  the  Jewish  Gospel,  while  Luke  and  Mark  speak  of 
only  the  one.    And  so  while  the  Lord  is  on  His  way  to 


121 

Jerusalem  and  no  voice  from  the  multitude  is  heard  de- 
claring Him  and  confessing  Him  as  Son  of  David,  and 
therefore  as  the  King,  a  confession  from  these  two  sitting 
in  darkness  is  heard. 

That  these  men  had  heard  of  Him  is  evident,  that  their 
chief  desire  was  to  be  healed  is  equally  certain;  and  they 
had  faith  in  Him,  that  He  could  do  it,  but  it  was  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  put  that  confession  and  cry  in  their  hearts  and 
lips:  "Have  mercy  on  us,  Lord,  Son  of  David."  And 
the  multitude  rebuked  them  that  they  might  be  silent.  Surely 
this  is  proof  enough  of  the  unbelief  and  condition  of  this 
great  company  of  people  following  Him.  Why  should  they 
have  rebuked  these  men,  commanding  them  to  be  silent,  if 
they  had  shared  the  faith  of  these  two?  The  confession 
of  this  Jesus  as  "Son  of  David"  was  obnoxious  to  the  mul- 
titude. .  But  they  could  not  be  silenced.  The  Holy  Spirit 
had  moved  them,  and  as  they  are  rebuked  they  cry  the 
more  with  their  solemn  witness,  "Son  of  David." 

And  full  of  compassion  He  touched  them,  and  their  sight 
was  restored.  We  have  learned  before  the  typical  meaning 
of  healing  by  touch  in  this  Gospel.  Whenever  the  Lord 
heals  by  touch  it  has  reference,  dispensationally,  To  His 
personal  presence  on  the  earth  and  His  merciful  dealing 
with  Israel.  When  He  heals  by  His  Word,  absent  in  person, 
as  it  is  in  the  case  of  the  Centurian's  servant,  and  the 
Canaanitish  woman,  or  if  He  is  touched  in  faith,  it  refers  to 
the  time  when  He  is  absent  from  the  earth,  and  Gentiles  ap- 
proaching Him  in  faith  are  healed  by  Him. 

Now  here  we  have  a  dispensational  foreshadowing,  the 
importance  of  which  should  not  be  overlooked.  These  two 
blind  men  sitting  at  the  wayside,  groping  in  the  dark,  cry- 
ing to  the  Son  of  David  for  deliverance,  are  types  of  the 
poor  and  feeble  remnant  of  Israel  in  the  end  of  this  age, 
after  the  testimony  of  the  church  for  Christ  the  Son  of  God 
by  resurrection  from  the  dead,  has  been  finished  and  the 


122 

church  is  no  longer  upon  this  scene.  That  remnant  of 
Israel  will  cry  to  Him  as  Son  of  David  and  call  upon  Him 
for  deliverance.  The  entrance  of  Jerusalem,  which  follows 
in  the  next  chapter,  foreshadows  also  that  coming  of  the 
Son  of  David  to  Jerusalem,  when  He  comes  as  King  crowned 
with  honor  and  glory.  And  as  the  two  blind  ones  called  upon 
Him  when  He  was  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem,  and  He  heard 
and  delivered  them,  so  will  that  remnant  of  His  earthly 
people  seek  Him,  and  in  that  darkness  which  precedes  His 
return  to  Jerusalem  cry  to  the  Son  of  David,  without  seeing 
Him  in  person,  though  they  believe  on  Him,  that  He  is  the 
promised  One.  And  as  the  cry  of  the  blind  men  was  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  will  the  seeking,  the  longing, 
the  prayer  of  that  future  remnant  be  produced  by  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

The  multitudes  which  rebuked  the  two  at  the  wayside  and 
tried  to  silence  them  foreshadows  that  part  of  the  people  of 
Israel,  which  in  that  great  tribulation  remains  in  unbelief 
and  which  hates  their  own  brethren,  who  are  expecting  the 
Coming  of  the  Messiah  and  cry  to  him  for  deliverance.  In 
Isaiah  lxvi  we  read  of  this :  "Hear  the  Word  of  the  Lord, 
ye  that  tremble  at  His  Word.  Your  brethren  that  hated 
you,  that  cast  you  out  for  my  name's  sake,  said,  Let  Jehovah 
be  glorified,  and  let  us  see  your  joy!  But  they  shall  be 
ashamed"  (Isa.  lxvi  15).  Those  in  Israel,  who  at  the  end 
time  tremble  at  His  Word  are  the  godly  remnant.  They 
are  hated  by  their  own  brethren  and  are  cast  out.  They 
also  mock  at  them  and  their  expectation ;  but  they  shall  be 
ashamed. 

The  two  blind  men  were  healed  and  followed  Him.  Their 
eyes  were  suddenly  opened.  So  shall  the  remnant  behold 
Him,  and  as,  no  doubt,  these  two  were  witnesses  of  His 
triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem  and  shouted  out  the  Praise 
and  Glory  of  His  name,  so  will  the  delivered  remnant  of 
Israel  sing  forth  His  Praises. 


123 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

We  are  now  reaching  the  beginning  of  the  end.  The 
King  with  His  disciples  draws  near  to  Jerusalem  to  hold 
his  triumphant  royal  entry  into  the  city,  and  to  be  pre- 
sented as  King  to  the  same.  What  scenes  have  passed  be- 
fore our  eyes  in  the  study  of  the  Gospel.  We  have  fol- 
lowed the  mighty  events  connected  with  the  manifestation 
of  the  King  in  the  midst  of  His  people,  the  miracles  of  mes- 
sianic power,  which  demonstrated  before  the  eyes  of  Israel 
that  He  is  Jehovah.  We  learned  how  the  kingdom  was 
preached  and  rejected;  how  His  own  to  whom  He  came 
received  Him  not.  In  all  these  events  and  miracles  the 
most  complete  dispensational  facts  were  seen  foreshadowed, 
while  we  learned  the  same  facts  from  the  Words  and  para- 
bles of  the  King.  We  are  in  the  last  stage  now,  one  in- 
tensely interesting,  of  great  importance  and  solemn  mean- 
ing. May  He  Himself  through  His  Spirit  open  this  Gospel 
still  more  to  our  understanding  and  give  us  much  light  and 
great  blessing  through  the  meditation  on  His  Word. 

His  entry  into  Jerusalem,  which  is  before  us  first  of  all, 
was  witnessed  by  immense  multitudes  of  people,  as  we  shall 
learn  from  the  text.  Criticism  has  given  a  strange  motive 
for  the  Lord's  entrance  into  Jerusalem.  It  has  been  said 
that  He  was  carried  away  by  enthusiasm  and  expected  that 
the  people  would  now  surely  receive  Him  as  the  Messiah- 
King;  while  other  critics  explained  His  entry  to  the  city 
as  a  kind  of  a  concession  to  the  messianic  expectations  of 
His  disciples.  How  dishonoring  to  Him  are  all  such  foolish 
speculation.     The  simple  fact  is  that  He  is  the  King  and  as 


124 

such  He  had  to  come  to  Jerusalem  and  fulfill  that  which 
had  been  predicted  by  Zechariah,  the  prophet. 

"And  when  they  drew  near  to  Jerusalem  and  came  to 
Bethphage,  at  the  mount  of  Olives,  then  Jesus  sent  two 
disciples,  saying  to  them,  Go  into  the  village  over  against 
you,  and  immediately  ye  will  find  an  ass  tied,  and  a  colt  with 
it ;  loose  them  and  lead  them  to  me.  And  if  anyone  say  any- 
thing to  you,  ye  shall  say,  The  Lord  has  need  of  them,  and 
straightway  he  will  send  them.  But  all  this  came  to  pass, 
that  that  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  through  the 
prophet,  saying,  Say  to  the  daughters  of  Zion,  Behold  they 
King  cometh  to  Thee,  meek  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and 
upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass."     (Verses  1-5.) 

"Bethphage"  means  "house  of  unripe  figs,"  surely  signifi- 
cant if  we  consider  the  typical  meaning  of  the  fig  tree,  and 
the  cursing  of  the  fig  tree,  which  is  recorded  in  the  chapter. 
From  this  place  He  sends  forth  His  two  disciples  to  bring 
the  colt  and  the  ass  to  Him.  This  act  of  the  Lord  flashes 
forth  once  more  His  Glory  and  that  the  King-Messiah  is 
Jehovah.  He  knew  that  yonder  was  an  ass  tied  with  a  colt 
as  He  knew  the  fish  and  the  piece  of  silver  in  the  sea,  and  as 
He  commanded  the  fish  with  the  stater  to  go  to  Peter's  hook 
so  here  He  demands  the  use  of  the  ass  and  colt;  He  has  a 
right  to  them  for  He  is  the  Creator  and  He  can  say  as  He 
has  said :  "For  every  beast  of  the  forest  is  mine,  and  the 
cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  I  know  all  the  fowls  of  the 
mountains,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field  are  mine"  (Ps. 
l:io,  11).  In  Mark's  Gospel  we  read,  "And  they  found  the 
colt  bound  to  the  door  without  at  the  crossway  and  they 
loose  him.  And  some  of  those  standing  there  said  to  them, 
What  are  you  doing  loosing  the  colt?  And  they  said  to 
them  as  Jesus  had  commanded  them.  And  they  let  them  do 
it"  (Mark  XK4-7).  No  doubt  the  majestic  "The  Lord  has 
need  of  them"  made  such  a  deep  impression  upon  the  hearts 


125 

of  these  men  who  either  owned  the  colt  or  had  charge  of  it, 
that  they  were  ready  at  once  to  let  them  go.  It  was  His 
Word  which  demanded  obedience  and  which  was  obeyed. 

But  the  whole  scene  had  been  predicted  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament and  here  in  the  Gospel  of  the  King  this  prophecy  is 
put  into  the  foreground.  The  quotation  refers  us  to  Zech- 
ariah  ix.     We  shall  quote  the  whole  prophecy: 

"Rejoice   greatly,   daughter  of  Zion, 
Shout   aloud   daughter  of  Jerusalem, 
Behold  thy  King  cometh  to  thee, 
Just  and  having  salvation, 
Meek  and  riding  upon  an  ass, 
Even  upon  a  colt,  the  she-ass's  foal." 

This  prophecy  stands  in  contrast  to  the  Grecian  con- 
queror, mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  the  ninth  chapter  of 
Zechariah.  The  Jews  acknowledged  that  the  words  are  a 
messianic  prophecy.  One  of  the  leading  Jewish  commen- 
tators* says,  "It  is  impossible  to  interpret  it  of  any  other 
than  King  Messiah." 

The  Jews  have  also  an  interesting  legend,  though  foolish, 
which  claims  that  the  ass  upon  which  King  Messiah  rides  is 
the  same  which  Abraham  saddled  when  he  went  on  the  way 
to  offer  up  Isaac  and  that  is  the  same  animal  which  Moses 
used.  This  shows  how  firmly  the  Jews  believe  in  Zechariah 
(ix  :9~io)  as  a  messianic  prediction.  But  we  noticed  that  only 
part  of  the  original  prophecy  is  quoted  in  Matthew.  The 
Holy  Spirit  leaves  out  "Just  and  having  salvation."  In  these 
omissions  the  critics  as  well  as  other  unbelievers  in  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible  scent  discrepancies  and  errors.  But 
recently  a  professor  made  the  statement  that  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  had  a  limited  and  imperfect  knowledge 


jolomon  Ben  Jarchi  commonly  known  as  Rashi, 


126 

of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  and  he  tried  to  prove  his 
assertion  by  the  quotations  found  in  the  New  Testament. 
But  Matthew,  Mark,  John,  Peter  or  Paul  did  not  write 
themselves,  but  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit  who  used  them  as  an 
instrument.  It  is  not  Matthew  or  Paul  quoting  the  Old 
Testament,  but  the  same  Spirit  of  God  who  gave  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  through  the  prophets,  quotes  in  the 
New  His  own  utterances.  And  while  these  critics  see  noth- 
ing but  imperfection  in  these  quotations  the  true  believer 
sees  nothing  but  perfection  in  them  and  finds  here  a  strong 
argument  for  verbal  inspiration.  It  is  so  in  the  passage 
before  us.  Man  would  have  quoted  every  word  from  Zech- 
ariah's  prophecy,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  leaves  out  "just  and 
having  salvation"  because  this  was  not  to  come  to  Jerusalem 
then,  for  Jerusalem  would  not  have  the  King.  The  King  is 
coming  again  to  Jerusalem  and  then  when  He  comes  riding 
the  white  horse  (Rev.  xix)  all  that  which  is  not  yet  fulfilled 
in  Zechariah's  prophecy  will  be  fulfilled.  Then  it  shall  be 
as  we  read  in  the  context: 

"And  I  will  cut  off  the  chariot  from  Ephraim,  and  the 
horse  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  battle  bow  shall  be  exit  off, 
and  He  shall  speak  peace  to  the  nations  and  His  dominion 
shall  be  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth." 

The  Talmudists  have  labored  to  overcome  the  difficulty 
which  they  have  concerning  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
when  they  consider  (Daniel  vii:i3)  that  He  comes  in  the 
clouds  of  Heaven,  and  in  Zechariah  that  He  comes  riding 
upon  an  ass.  "If  the  Israelites  are  good  then  He  shall  come 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  but  if  not  good,  then  riding  upon 
an  ass."*    We  return  to  the  account  before  us. 

"But  the  disciples  having  gone  and  done  as  Jesus  had 


*Sanhedrin  Tract. 


127 

ordered  them,  brought  the  ass  and  the  colt  and  put  their 
garments  upon  them  and  sat  on  them.  But  a  very  great 
multitude  strewed  their  own  garments  on  the  way,  and 
others  kept  cutting  down  branches  from  the  trees  and  strew- 
ing them  on  the  way.  And  the  multitudes  who  went  before 
Him,  and  who  followed  cried,  saying,  Hosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David ;  blessed  be  He,  who  comes  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord;  Hosanna  in  the  Highest.  And  so  He  entered  into 
Jerusalem,  the  whole  city  was  moved  saying,  Who  is  this? 
And  the  multitudes  said,  This  is  the  Prophet,  who  is  from 
Nazareth  of  Galilee." 

What  a  sight  this  must  have  been  to  behold !  How  eager 
the  disciples  were  to  act  their  parts.  No  doubt  enthusiastic 
Peter  was  here  in  the  lead,  only  too  ready  to  put  His  Lord 
into  the  place  of  authority.  The  multitude  was  very  great. 
Large  numbers  had  followed  Him  from  Jericho,  while 
equally  large  numbers  came  forth  from  the  City.  Large 
numbers  of  pilgrims  had  come  to  Jerusalem  for  the  feast, 
among  them  many,  no  doubt,  who  had  seen  Jesus  and  had 
witnessed  His  mighty  miracles  in  Galilee.  The  news  of  the 
resurrection  of  Lazarus,  which  is  not  reported  in  our  Gos- 
pel, because  it  belongs  properly  only  in  the  fourth  Gospel 
record,  had  spread  throughout  Jerusalem  and  when  the 
news  reached  there  that  He  was  coming  near  the  city, 
ready  to  hold  his  entry,  thousands  went  forth  to  meet  Him. 
The  garments  were  spread  in  the  way ;  it  was  an  Oriental 
custom  to  put  before  the  feet  of  kings  costly  rugs  and  the 
multitudes  followed  this  custom  by  putting  their  garments 
down.  What  a  sight  it  must  have  been — the  thousands  com- 
ing to  meet  Him  with  Palm  branches  in  their  hands,  waving 
them  over  their  heads,  while  the  multitudes  which  followed 
did  the  same.  And  then  they  broke  out  in  the  glad  shouts, 
quoting  partly  from  the  cxviii  Psalm  "Hosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David !     Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 


128 

Lord!  Hosanna  in  the  Highest."  Hosanna  means  "save 
now."  The  phrase  "Hosanna"  is  used  by  the  Jews  at  the 
feast  of  tabernacles  and  the  waving  of  the  palms  reminds 
one  also  of  that  feast,  which  has  such  a  prophetic  signi- 
ficance. It  will.be  kept  throughout  the  Millennium  and  the 
nations  will  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  According  to  Jewish  tradition  the  cxviii  Psalm  was 
also  chanted  when  the  people  came  forth  from  Jerusalem  to 
meet  the  pilgrims.  And  this  foreshadows  also  His  second 
coming.  But  how  different  the  scene  will  be  then.  He 
comes  forth  out  of  the  opened  heavens,  riding  upon  a  white 
horse ;  Jerusalem  will  be  besieged  and  in  great  distress ;  a 
great  multitude  will  accompany  Him  from  above,  His  many 
sons,  the  Saints  as  well  as  angels ;  the  remnant  of  Israel 
will  cry  out  "Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David.  Blessed  is  He 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

When  that  wonderful  entry  took  place,  the  King  riding 
upon  the  colt,  and  the  whole  city  was  moved  as  by  a  mighty 
earthquake,  His  enemies  declared  amongst  themselves,  "Be- 
hold, the  world  is  gone  after  Him"  (John  xii:i9).  What 
a  triumph  it  was  !  The  King  entering  Jerusalem.  And  in 
all  He  is  undisturbed.  Others  might  have  been  swept  away 
by  this  enthusiasm ;  but  He  is  calm  in  all  His  kingly  maj- 
esty. Luke's  gospel  tells  us  that  He  wept.  "And  when 
He  was  come  near,  He  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it." 
And  what  kind  of  weeping  was  this  ?  He  wept  at  the  grave 
of  Lazarus  and  that  was  a  still,  a  silent  weeping.  But  before 
Jerusalem  He  broke  out  in  loud  and  deep  lamentations. 
This  is  clearly  proven  by  the  different  words  used  in  the 
original. 

The  King  knew  what  was  soon  to  be,  and  on  yonder 
hill  He  saw  looming  up  the  cross.  True,  they  were  crying, 
"Son  cf  David,  save  now!"  But  the  question,  "Who  is 
this?"  is  answered  in  the  terms  of  rejection,     Instead  of 


I2Q 

"the  King,  Jehovah-Jesns,  the  Messiah,"  the  multitude  an- 
swers "Jesus,  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  of  Galilee." 

The  first  errand  of  the  King  in  His  city  is  the  temple. 
"And  Jesus  entered  into  the  temple  of  God,  and  cast  out  all 
that  sold  and  bought  in  the  temple,  and  overthrew  the  tables 
of  the  money-changers  and  the  seats  of  those  that  sold  the 
doves.  And  He  says  to  them,  It  is  written,  My  house  shall 
be  called  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of 
robbers"  (verses  12-13).  This  is  the  second  time  that  the 
Lord  acted  in  cleansing  the  temple.  The  first  is  recorded  in 
the  Gospel  of  John  ( ii  113,  17),  and  it  took  place  at  the  be- 
ginning of  His  ministry.  There  it  is  the  zeal  for  God's 
house,  but  here  He  acts  in  all  His  Kingly  authority.  How 
great  and  awful  must  have  been  the  defilement  of  God's 
temple  in  those  days.  Money  changers  were  undoubtedly  in 
the  foreground,  for  money  played  then  in  the  days  of  the 
Jewish  apostasy  as  important  a  role  as  it  does  in  the  apostasy 
we  witness  about  us.  "We  can  picture  to  ourselves  the 
scene  around  the  table  of  an  eastern  money  changer — the 
weighing  of  the  coins,  deductions  for  loss  of  weight,  ar- 
guing, disputing,  bargaining,  and  we  realize  the  terrible 
truthfulness  of  our  Lord's  charge  that  they  had  made  the 
Father's  house  a  mart  and  a  place  of  traffic."*  And  besides 
the  money  changers  were  those  who  bought  and  sold.  All 
that  which  was  required  for  the  meat  and  drink  offering 
was  for  sale  by  the  Temple  authorities.  With  the  sale  much 
speculation  was  connected ;  covetousness,  as  Jewish  talmu- 
dical  writings  prove,  was  the  ruling  passion  in  this  blas- 
phemous traffic.  And  the  most  awful  fact  was  that  the 
priesthood,  especially  the  High-priestly  family  earned  riches 
from  it.  The  Bazaars  and  the  Temple  markets  were  con- 
trolled and  owned  by  the  sons  of  Annas. 


*Edersheim :  Life  of  Christ,  Vol.  I.,  369. 


130 

Into  this  scene  of  desecration  He  enters.  No  whip  of 
cords  is  in  His  hands ;  the  King  does  not  need  it.  The  tables 
are  turned  over  in  wild  confusion;  the  coins  roll  over  the 
pavement,  while  the  sacrificial  animals  and  birds  are  driven 
out,  perhaps  in  a  wild  stampede,  followed  by  their  owners 
and  the  officials  of  the  temple.  And  what  He  use?  is  His 
own  Word.  "It  is  written  my  house  shall  be  called  an 
house  of  prayer;  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  robbers." 
It  was  His  house,  as  well  as  His  Father's.  Of  old  in  the 
first  house  His  own  Glory  appeared  and  dwelt  there.  The 
words  "mine  house  shall  be  called  an  house  of  prayer"  are 
found  in  Isaiah  lvi  :y.  "For  all  people"  which  is  in  Isaiah, 
the  Lord  does  not  quote.  That  temple  was  not  meant  to  be 
a  house  "for  all  people ;"  the  temple  in  Is.  lvi  \J  is  the  millen- 
nial temple,  and  that  future  temple  will  be  the  house  to 
which  the  nations  of  the  earth  will  come  during  the  coming 
age,  to  worship  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 

And  so  the  Lord  came  suddenly  to  His  temple  to  cleanse 
it  (Mai.  iiin-3).  But  this  again  is  only  a  shadow  of  an- 
other coming  and  the  final  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  con- 
tained in  the  third  chapter  of  Malachi.  Another  temple  will 
stand  in  Jerusalem  during  the  great  tribulation  and  there 
will  be  even  greater  defilement.  In  that  temple  one  will 
sit  who  is  clearly  pictured  in  the  Word.  "That  man  of  sin, 
the  son  of  perdition ;  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that 
he  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  Himself 
that  He  is  God"  (2  Thess.  ii  13,  4).  Him  the  Lord  will 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  His  coming. 

But  a  more  refreshing  scene  follows.  The  temple  is 
cleansed.  The  noise  and  confusion  is  at  an  end.  Nothing 
is  said  of  the  return  of  these  evil'occupants.  But  instead  of 
them,  there  came  the  blind  and  the  lame  to  Him  in  the 
temple  and  He  healed  them.    The  vacancy  was  filled  by  the 


131 

crowd  of  poor,  stricken,  suffering  ones,  who  were  delivered 
of  their  pains  and  diseases.  Blessed  and  glorious  foreshad- 
owing of  what  will  be  when  He  comes  again  and  when  by 
His  life-giving,  healing  touch,  He  will  cure  "all  diseases" 
and  make  perfectly  whole.  And  still  another  thing  happens. 
"And  when  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  saw  the  won- 
ders which  He  wrought,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  tem- 
ple and  saying  'Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David'  they  were 
indignant,  and  said  to  Him,  Hearest  thou  what  these  say? 
And  Jesus  says  to  them,  Yes ;  have  ye  never  read,  Out  of 
the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected 
praise?"  (Verses  15,  16.)  The  children  sang  their  Hosanna 
to  Him,  the  Son  of  David,  and  our  Lord  refers  the  murmur- 
ing, accusing  chief  priests  and  scribes  to  the  eighth  Psalm. 
The  meaning  of  that  Psalm  is  clearly  established  by  the 
second  chapter  of  Hebrews.  It  is  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Man, 
who  is  here  seen  in  His  dominion  over  the  earth.  When  at 
last  He  has  all  things  under  His  feet,  there  will  be  a  silen- 
cing of  the  enemy  by  perfect  praise.  The  praise  of  the 
children  foreshadows  the  praise  He  will  receive  when  He 
comes  again. 

Beautifully  Edersheim  in  his  excellent  work  describes  this 
scene.  "It  was  truly  spring  time  in  that  temple,  and  the 
boys  had  gathered  about  their  fathers  and  looked  from 
their  faces  of  wrapt  wonderment  and  enthusiasm  to  the 
Godlike  face  of  the  Christ,  and  then  on  those  healed  suffer- 
ers, took  up  the  echoes  of  the  welcome  at  His  entrance  into 
Jerusalem — in  their  simplicity  and  understanding  applying 
them  better,  as  they  burst  into,  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David !  It  rang  through  the  courts  and  porches  of  the 
temple,  this  children's  Hosanna.  They  heard  it,  whom  the 
wonders  He  had  spoken  and  done,  had  only  filled  with  in- 
dignation. Once  more  in  their  impotent  anger,  they  sought, 
as  the  Pharisees  had  done,  by  a  hypocritical  appeal  to  His 


132 

reverence  for  God,  not  only  to  mislead,  and  so  to  use  His 
very  love  of  the  truth  against  the  truth,  but  to  betray  Him 
into  silencing  those  children's  voices.'' 

No  answer  comes  from  the  lips  of  those  hypocrites  to  the 
Word  of  God,  the  Sword,  He  used  once  more.  The  very 
next  act  of  His  is  one  of  deep  solemnity.  "And  leaving 
them  He  went  forth  out  of  the  City  to  Bethany,  and  there 
He  passed  the  night"  (verse  17).  There  they  stood  in  the 
darkening  porches  of  the  temple,  the  pictures  of  hate  and 
despair.  The  night  came  on  rapidly  for  them.  They  knew 
Him  and  had  rejected  Him  and  now  He  leaves  them. 

"But  early  in  the  morning,  as  He  came  back  into  the  City, 
He  hungered.  And  seeing  a  fig  tree  in  the  way,  He  came 
to  it  and  found  on  it  nothing  but  leaves  only.  And  He 
says  to  it,  Let  there  be  never  more  fruit  of  thee  forever. 
And  the  fig  tree  was  immediately  dried  up"  (verses  18,  19). 
Early  in  the  morning  the  blessed  One  is  up  to  return  to  the 
City.  What  a  story  the  two  words  tell  us  "He  hungered." 
The  King  was  hungry.  He  who  was  rich,  had  indeed  be- 
come poor.  There  by  the  wayside  is  a  fig  tree  bearing  many 
leaves ;  there  He  looked  for  some  of  the  old  fruit,  or  per- 
haps some  of  the  unripe  figs.  He  finds  nothing  and  a  curse 
follows,  which  withers  the  tree.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
fig  tree  is  the  type  of  Israel.  The  cursing  of  the  fig  tree 
stands  for  the  national  rejection  of  the  people.  Israel 
yielded  no  fruit,  therefore  the  barren  tree  was  cut  off  and 
cast  into  the  fire,  while  the  root  remains   (Luke  xiii). 

"And  when  the  disciples  saw  it,  they  wondered,  saying, 
How  immediately  is  the  fig  tree  dried  up!  And  Jesus  an- 
swering said  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  yb  have 
faith  and  do  not  doubt  not  only  shati  ye  do  what  is  done  to 
the  fig  tree,  but  even,  if  ye  should  say  to  this  mountain,  Be 
thou  taken  away  and  be  cast  into  the  sea,  it  shall  come  to 
pass.  And  all  things  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  be- 
lieving, ye  shall  receive"  (verses  20-22). 


133 

They  wondered  at  the  power  which  made  the  fig  tree 
wither,  and  He  calls  their  attention  that  the  power  of  God  is 
ready  to  answer  their  faith.  The  connection  is  obvious. 
Israel  had  no  faith  in  God,  hence  their  bareness.  If  they 
have  faith,  it  shall  be  far  different ;  the  power  of  God  is  then 
at  their  disposal.  The  mountain  is  the  type  of  an  obstacle. 
Every  obstacle  can  be  and  will  be  removed  out  of  the  way 
in  answer  to  prayer.  That  there  is  a  reference  to  Israel  in 
these  words  is  no  doubt  true.  The  nation  was  a  mountain 
and  by  its  disobedience  and  rejection  of  the  Lord,  the  nation 
was  an  obstacle  in  the  path  of  the  Gospel.  But  on  account 
of  faith  this  mountain  was  indeed  cast  into  the  sea,  the  type 
of  the  nations.  Precious  to  faith  has  ever  been  and  ever 
will  be  the  Word,  the  author  and  finisher  of  the  faith 
speaks  here.  "And  all  things  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in 
prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive."  Let  us  not  limit  them, 
nor  say  as  some  have  said,  it  is  not  for  us.  They  are  for 
the  children  of  God  and  there  is  no  limit  to  them.  All 
things — whatsoever;  surely  there  is  no  limit  here;  and  then 
the  three  steps — asking  in  prayer,  believing  and  receiving. 
He,  the  King,  who  has  all  power  spake  these  words;  and 
what  a  meaning  they  should  have  for  us !  May  we  cast 
ourselves  upon  them  in  childlike  faith. 

Again  we  see  our  Lord  in  the  temple.  He  is  teaching  the 
people.  Perhaps  it  was  a  great  multitude  which  had  gath- 
ered. Soon  the  enemies  came  also  to  oppose  Him.  These 
men,  the  rulers  of  the  people,  are  now  gathering  force  and 
getting  ready  for  the  great  final  rejection  of  the  King.  But 
ere  this  comes  He  silences  all  their  objections  and  accusa- 
tions and  shows  them  in  their  evil  and  hateful  character. 

"And  when  He  came  into  the  temple,  the  chief  priests 
and  the  elders  of  the  people  came  to  Him  as  He  was  teach- 
ing, saying,  By  what  authority  doest  Thou  these  things? 
And  who  gave  thee  this  authority?"     (Verse  2$.)     What 


*34 

troubled  them  most  was  no  doubt  the  scene  of  the  preceding 
day,  the  cleansing  of  the  temple.  He  is  face  to  face  with  the 
mighty  ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  people,  those  who  con- 
stitute the  Sanhedrim.  How  will  He  deal  with  them  ?  How 
will  He  answer  their  question  ?  Divine  wisdom  is  manifested 
in  the  way  He  deals  with  them.  It  is  so  in  the  chapters 
which  follow,  in  these  conflicts  with  the  men  who  were  so 
soon  to  be  His  accusers,  to  deliver  Him  into  the  hands  of 
the  Gentiles.  "And  Jesus  answering  said  to  them,  I  also 
will  ask  you  one  thing,  which  if  ye  tell  me,  I  also  will  tell 
you  by. what  authority  I  do  these  things:  The  baptism  of 
John,  whence  was  it?  of  heaven?  or  of  men?"  (Verses  24, 
25.)  Here  was  the  question  for  them  to  answer.  And  in 
this  way  He  not  only  silenced  them  but  He  also  answered 
the  question.  John  the  Baptist  to  whom  He  appealed  had 
borne  witness  of  Him.  John  himself,  the  forerunner  of  the 
Christ  to  whom  He  so  faithfully  pointed,  was  believed  to 
have  been  a  prophet.  If  they  said,  Yes,  the  Baptism  of  John 
was  of  heaven,  as  they  should  have  said,  they  would  have 
both  endorsed  John's  statement  concerning  Jesus  and  this 
would  have  condemned  them,  their  unbelief  and  satanic 
hatred.  They  dared  not  to  say  that  John's  Baptism  was  not 
of  heaven.  What  could  they  do?  There  they  stand  with 
their  dark  faces,  talking  over  this  serious  matter.  "And 
they  reasoned  among  themselves,  saying,  If  we  should  say, 
Of  heaven,  He  will  say  to  us,  Why  then  have  ye  not  believed 
him?  But  if  we  should  say,  Of  men,  we  fear  the  people, 
for  all  hold  John  for  a  prophet.  And  answering  Jesus  they 
said,  We  do  not  know"  (verses  25,  26).  Miserable,  self- 
condemned,  dishonest  men  they  were !  Alas !  how  much  of 
the  same  spirit  and  worse  is  found  to-day  among  the  self- 
appointed  ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  people,  who  reject  the 
Christ  of  God.  The  Lord  refuses  to  discuss  with  them  this 
question.     "Neither  do  I  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do 


135 

these  things."  The  question  they  had  asked  was  answered. 
He  is  the  King,  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  as  such  He 
was  about  His  Father's  business  and  that  was  His  author- 
ity for  cleansing  the  temple,  His  Father's  house  and  His 
own. 

And  now  a  parable.  "A  man  had  two  children,  and  com- 
ing to  the  first  he  said,  Child,  go  to-day,  work  in  my  vine- 
yard. And  He  answering  said,  I  will  not;  but  afterwards 
repenting  Himself  He  went.  And  coining  to  the  second 
he  said  likewise ;  and  he  answering  said,  I  go,  sir,  and  went 
not.  Which  of  the  two  did  the  will  of  the  father?  They 
say  to  Him,  the  first.  Jesus  says  to  them,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you  that  the  tax  gatherers  and  the  harlots  go  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  before  you.  For  John  came  to  you  in  the  way 
of  righteousness,  and  ye  believed  him  not ;  but  the  tax  gath- 
erers and  harlots  believed  Him ;  but  ye  when  ye  saw  it  re- 
pented not  yourselves  afterwards  to  believe  him"  (verses 
28-32). 

The  parable  needs  but  little  comment.  They  despised 
the  tax  gatherers  and  harlots,  but  the  Lord  proves  that  these 
polished,  cultured,  educated,  religious  priests  and  elders 
were  far  worse,  far  more  obnoxious.  The  tax  gatherers 
and  harlots  are  meant  by  the  son  who  said  he  would  not  go 
and  repented  and  went.  The  second  who  said,  I  go,  and 
does  not  go,  nor  does  he  repent,  is  the  proud  religious  Phari- 
see, the  high  priests  "and  elders.  Thus  the  righteous  Judge 
lays  them  bare  with  His  mighty  sword.  Self-righteous  they 
repented  not.  Convicted  and  condemned  the  Sanhedrim 
stands  in  the  presence  of  the  King. 

The  chief  priests  and  elders  have  no  answer  to  the  parable 
the  Lord  had  spoken,  and  now  after,  perhaps,  a  brief  silence 
He  gives  them  a  second  parable.  This  one  is  a  parable  which 
reviews  the  history  of  their  nation  and  predicts  the  soon 
coining  calamity.     Again  He  makes  His  enemies  to  bear 


136 

witness  themselves,  and  we  shall  learn  later  that  these  men 
understood  of  what  the  King  spake. 

"Hear  another  parable.  There  was  a  man,  a  householder, 
who  planted  a  vineyard,  and  put  a  hedge  round  it,  and  dug 
a  winepress  in  it,  and  built  a  tower,  and  let  it  out  to  hus- 
bandmen, and  went  abroad.  But  when  the  time  of  the  fruit 
came  nigh,  he  sent  his  servants  to  the  husbandmen,  to  re- 
ceive the  fruits  of  it.  And  the  husbandmen  took  his  ser- 
vants, and  beat  one,  and  killed  another  and  stoned  another. 
Again  he  sent  other  servants,  more  than  the  first,  and  they 
did  to  them  likewise.  And  afterwards  he  sent  to  them  his 
son,  saying,  They  will  respect  my  son.  But  when  the  hus- 
bandmen saw  the  son,  they  said  among  themselves,  This  is 
the  heir,  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  lay  hold  of  his  inheri- 
tance. And  they  took  him  and  cast  him  out  of  the  vineyard 
and  slew  him.  When,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard 
cometh,  what  will  he  do  to  these  husbandmen  ?"  (Verses  33- 
40.)  When  the  Lord  spoke  of  the  vineyard,  with  the  hedge 
and  the  winepress,  the  tower  and  the  husbandmen,  as  well 
as  of  the  fruit  the  vineyard  was  to  yield,  they  must  have 
recognized  at  once  that  this  referred  to  Israel.  He  meant 
by  it  the  nation  to  whom  He  had  come  to  offer  the  King- 
dom. Israel,  a  vineyard,  is  an  Old  Testament  picture.  The 
King,  no  doubt,  had  Isaiah's  prophecy  in  mind,  when  He 
uttered  this  parable.  It  is  founded  upon  Isaiah,  chapter  v: 
1-7.  Jeremiah  11:21 ;  Psalm  lxxx  :8, .  and  other  passages 
speak  of  the  same  fact.  The  Lord  through  His  Spirit  had 
spoken  all  these  words  by  the  Prophets  and  now  He  Himself 
had  come  to  flash  the  truth  of  God's  mercy  to  Israel,  their 
shameful  past  and  the  still  greater,  impending  sin  before  the 
hearts  of  these  national  leaders.  The  vineyard  so  well  kept 
and  provided  for  had  not  yielded  fruit.  The  servants  who 
came  to  the  vineyard  are  the  prophets  whom  God  sent,  and 
they  had  rejected  and  maltreated  them.     At  last  the  Son 


137 

came,  sent  by  the  Father.  This  is  the  full  dealing  of  God 
with  Israel.  Prophet  after  prophet  came  and  spake  in  Je- 
hovah's name  and  then  God  sent  forth  His  Son.  What  a 
moment  it  must  have  been  when  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ut- 
tered these  words.  The  Son  the  Father  had  sent  stood  in 
their  midst  and  they  could  not  but  realize  that  He  is  the  Son. 
What  will  they  do  with  the  Son  ?  Will  they  receive  His 
message?  Will  they  bow  to  His  authority?  No.  He  saith 
that  they  took  the  heir,  "cast  him  out  of  the  vineyard  and 
slew  him."  Awful  prediction  of  the  coming  events.  And 
He  knew  all  what  it  meant  for  Himself  to  be  taken  outside 
and  be  slain  there.  The  climax  of  sin  is  here  revealed.  But 
let  us  not  pass  by  the  significant  word,  "let  us  kill  him  and 
lay  hold  of  his  inheritance."  Even  so  by  the  death  of  the 
Son  of  God  we  receive,  believing  on  Him,  His  inheritance. 

The  question  had  been  asked  by  the  King,  "what  will  the 
Lord  do  to  those  husbandmen?"  It  is  for  them  to  answer 
and  their  answer  must  be  their  own  verdict.  Will  they 
dare  and  gi\e  Him  an  answer?  So  blinded  were  they  that 
they  did  indeed.  "They  said  unto  Him,  He  will  miserably 
destroy  those  wicked  men,  and  will  let  out  his  vineyard  to 
other  husbandmen,  who  will  render  to  him  the  fruits  in 
their  season."  Well  said !  And  what  they  had  spoken  to 
their  own  condemnation  came  upon  these  wicked  husband- 
men. 

And  now  the  Lord  continues  quoting  from  the  Book  of 
Psalms :  "Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Did  ye  never  read  in  the 
Scriptures,  The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same 
is  become  the  head  of  the  corner ;  this  is  the  Lord's  doing 
and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes"  (verse  42).  The  quota- 
tion is  from  Psalm  cxviii.  This  psalm  is  much  used  in  the 
ritual  of  Judaism.  The  rejected  stone  is  the  Messiah,  and 
in  His  rejection  He  becomes  the  head  of  the  corner.  The 
same  truth  is  witnessed  to  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Acts  iv :  1 1 ; 


138 

Eph.  11:20,  and  I  Pet.  ii  \J.  The  leaders  of  the  people  are 
the  builders.     What  foreshadowings  of  events  to  come! 

But  the  Lord  now  pronounces  His  verdict  upon  them.  He 
had  heard  the  words  spoken  by  His  enemies  in  their  self- 
condemnation  ;  He  speaks  next  and  tells  them  that  their 
judgment  was  right.  "Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  given  unto  a 
nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof"   (verse  43). 

They  had  refused  not  alone  that  kingdom  but  the  King; 
the  Son  they  would  soon  cast  out  and  therefore  the  Kingdom 
was  to  be  taken  from  them.  These  men  who  stood  there, 
the  generation  which  had  share  and  part  in  the  rejection  of 
the  Kingdom  and  the  King,  will  never  see  the  Kingdom. 
It  is  a  sad  blindness  when  men  can  teach  in  these  days  a 
restitutionism  which  includes  these  scribes,  elders  and  chief 
priests,  that  they  are  to  be  raised  from  the  dead  at  the  time 
of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  receive  a  share  in  the  King- 
dom. The  Word  of  the  Lord  is  emphatic  and  absolute ; 
there  is  no  hope  for  them.  The  nation  to  whom  the  Lord 
promises  the  Kingdom  is  not  the  Church.  The  Church  is 
called  the  Body  of  Christ,  the  Bride  of  Christ,  the  Habita- 
tion of  God  by  the  Spirit,  the  Lamb's  Wrife,  but  never  a 
nation.  The  nation  is  Israel  still,  but  that  believing  remnant 
of  the  nation,  living  when  the  Lord  comes. 

He  adds  another  word  in  connection  with  speaking  of 
Himself  as  the  Stone,  that  Old  Testament  type  of  King 
Messiah.  "And  whosoever  shall  fall  on  this  stone  shall  be 
broken ;  but  on  whomsoever  it  shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to 
powder"  (verse  44).  This  is  a  very  significant  utterance. 
The  Lord  in  these  few  words  predicts  the  coming  judgment 
of  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles.  The  one  sentence  has  been 
carried  out  and  the  other  is  still  to  be  executed.  The  Jews 
have  fallen  on  this  stone  and  they  have  been  broken.  How 
it  has  become  true !    The  stone  is  yet  to  fall  and  strike  the 


139 

world-powers,  the  Gentiles,  and  grind  them  to  powder.  Our 
space  does  not  permit  to  follow  this  thought,  but  we  advise 
our  readers  to  turn  in  their  Bibles  to  Daniel  ii  and  read 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  and  the  divinely  given  interpreta- 
tion. The  stone  cut  out  without  hands,  falling  out  of 
heaven,  smiting  the  great  image  at  its  feet,  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  His  Second  Coming.  The  Lord  refers  to  this 
here.  As  truly  as  He  broke  the  Jews  who  fell  on  Him,  so 
will  He  pulverize  Gentile  world  power  and  dominion,  when 
He  is  revealed  from  heaven.  The  nations  are  ripe  for  their 
judgment. 

"And  when  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  heard  his 
parables,  they  knew  that  He  spake  of  them.  But  when 
they  sought  to  lay  hands  on  Him,  they  feared  the  multitudes, 
because  they  held  Him  for  a  prophet." 

Thus  ends  this  remarkable  chapter.  They  knew  Him; 
they  knew  what  He  meant.  They  wanted  to  take  Him  then, 
so  great  was  their  hatred,  yet  they  were  cowards  fearing 
men,  not  God.  The  people  held  Him  for  a  prophet  only  and 
not  for  the  Messiah. 


140 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A  third  parable  follows  immediately.  They  would  have 
laid  their  hands  upon  Him,  after  that  searching  second  par- 
able had  been  uttered  by  the  Lord,  but  His  hour  was  not 
yet.  Once  more  He  flashes  forth  His  truth  and  reveals 
events  to  come. 

"And  Jesus  answering  spoke  to  them  again  in  parables, 
and  said,  The  Kingdom  of  the  heavens  has  become  like  a 
king,  who  made  a  wedding  feast  for  his  son,  and  sent  his 
bondmen  to  call  the  persons  invited  to  the  wedding  feast, 
and  they  would  not  come.  Again  he  sent  other  bondmen, 
saying,  Say  to  the  persons  invited,  Behold,  I  have  prepared 
my  dinner;  my  oxen  and  my  fatted  beasts  are  killed,  and 
all  things  are  ready ;  come  to  the  wedding  feast.  But  they 
made  light  of  it,  and  went,  one  to  his  own  land,  and  another 
to  his  merchandise.  And  the  rest  laying  hold  of  his  bond- 
men, ill-treated  and  slew  them.  And  when  the  King  heard 
of  it  he  was  wroth,  and  having  sent  his  forces,  destroyed 
those  murderers  and  burned  their  city.  Then  he  says  to  his 
bondmen,  The  wedding  feast  is  ready,  but  those  invited 
were  not  worthy ;  go  therefore  into  the  thoroughfares  of  the 
highways,  and  as  many  as  ye  shall  find  invite  to  the  wedding 
feast.  And  those  bondmen  went  out  into  the  highways  and 
brought  together  all  as  many  as  they  found,  both  evil  and 
good;  and  the  wedding  feast  was  furnished  with  guests. 
And  the  King  having  gone  in  to  see  the  guests,  beheld  there 
a  man  not  clothed  with  a  wedding  garment.  And  he  says 
to  him,  Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  here  not  having  a  wed- 
ding garment  ?    But  he  was  speechless.    Then  said  the  King 


141 

to  the  servants,  Bind  him  feet  and  hands  and  take  him 
away,  and  cast  him  out  into  the  outer  darkness ;  there  shall 
be  the  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  For  many  are  called 
ones,  but  few  chosen  ones"  (verses  1-14). 

The  dispensational  character  of  this  parable  is  very 
marked.  It  is  ushered  in  with  the  familiar  words  found 
alone  in  this  Gospel.  "The  Kingdom  of  the  heavens  is 
like,"  or  as  it  ought  to  be,  "has  become  like."  No  doubt  it  is 
the  same  parable  as  in  Luke,  chapter  xiv:  16-24;  only  here 
the  Holy  Spirit  makes  prominent  the  dispensational  features, 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  because  they 
do  not  belong  there.  The  marriage  feast  which  the  King 
makes  for  his  son  and  to  which  he  invites  guests  typifies  the 
gracious  offer  of  God  to  give  joy,  comfort  and  blessings  to 
those  whom  he  wishes  to  partake  of  it.  It  is  for  the  Son,  in 
honor  of  the  Son,  that  the  feast  is  made.  Of  the  Bride,  who 
of  course  belongs  also  to  the  marriage  feast,  nothing  is  said. 
This  parable  foreshadows  a  great  deal  more  than  the  other 
two  parables  in  the  previous  chapter.  It  goes  beyond  the 
cross,  for  the  offer  is  made  not  only  to  Israel  but  also  to  the 
Gentiles.  The  Kingdom  was  offered  to  the  nation ;  had  the 
Jews  repented,  there  would  have  been  a  marriage  feast  for 
them,  a  feast  of  fat  things,  as  promised  by  the  prophets. 
God's  mercy  would  have  been  manifested  upon  them.  The 
invitation  contained  in  the  third  verse  was  given  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Kingdom  before  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Between  the  third  and  fourth 
verses  these  great  events,  as  well  as  the  ascension  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  must  be  placed.  The  preaching  of  the 
Kingdom  with  its' gracious  blessings  stopped,  as  we  learned 
in  the  study  of  this  Gospel,  with  the  twelfth  chapter.  In  the 
thirteenth  chapter  the  Lord  teaches  the  mysteries  of  the 
Kingdom,  that  which  takes  place  during  this  present  dis- 
pensation.    Now,  in  the  fourth  verse  we  read  of  a  second 


142 

invitation.  When  was  this  second  invitation  given  to  the 
invited  guests,  that  is  to  Israel?  Not  before  the  Cross,  but 
immediately  after,  with  the  Holy  Spirit  come  down  from 
Heaven.  These  servants  were  to  tell  them  which  zvere 
bidden,  that  all  things  arc  ready.  The  work  of  redemption 
accomplished,  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  gives  another  call 
and  now  He  can  say  that  indeed  all  is  ready,  even  for  the 
people  who  had  rejected  the  Son  of  His  love  and  had  cruci- 
fied Him.  The  opening  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Acts  give 
us  the  history  of  this  invitation.  There  we  find  the  record  of 
the  second  call  to  Israel. 

The  preaching  of  the  Kingdom  is  resumed  for  a  brief 
period  and  with  this  preaching  is  the  promise  of  forgiveness 
of  sins  and  the  times  of  refreshing  and  restitution.  The 
invitation,  which  went  forth  after  the  Lord  had  taken  His 
place  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  is  clearly 
stated  by  Peter  in  the  third  chapter  of  Acts.  "Repent, 
therefore,  and  be  converted,  for  the  blotting  out  of  your  sins, 
so  that  times  of  refreshing  may  come  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  He  may  send  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  foreor- 
dained for  you,  whom  heaven  indeed  must  receive  till  the 
times  of  restoration  of  all  things,  of  which  God  has  spoken 
by  the  mouth  of  His  holy  prophets  since  time  began"  (Acts 
iii  -.19-21). 

No  Gentile  heard  this  message,  nor  was  it  meant  for  a 
Gentile ;  it  was  exclusively  addressed  to  Jerusalem.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  teach  otherwise.  The  times  of  restoration  or 
restitution  of  all  things,  refer  us  to  that  which  is  promised 
to  Israel  when  converted,  with  the  Kingdom  restored.  To 
use  this  passage,  as  it  is  done  so  often,  as  an  argument  for 
that  wicked  doctrine,  the  restitution  of  all  things,  including 
the  unsaved,  is  fundamentally  wrong.  Most  of  the  soul- 
destrovins;  errors  taught  in  these  last  davs  spring  from  a 
wrong:  division  of  the  Word  of  Truth.     If  this  new  in  vita- 


143 

tion  had  been  accepted  by  the  Jews,  then  the  Lord  would 
have  returned  and  the  restoration  of  all  things,  spoken  by 
the  prophets  and  promised  to  His  earthly  people,  would  have 
come  to  pass.  But  the  call  was  not  heeded ;  the  restoration 
of  all  things,  promised  to  Israel,  has  been  postponed. 

Of  this  refusal  to  accept  this  gracious  invitation  to  come 
to  the  marriage  feast  we  read  in  this  parable  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  verses.  They  made  light  of  it,  they  ignored  the  offer 
and  occupied  themselves  with  earthly  things,  such  as  mer- 
chandise. They  did  the  same,  what  Judah  had  done  after  he 
had  with  his  brethren  sold  Joseph,  he  turned  a  merchant 
(Gen.  xxxviii).  But  simple  rejection  of  the  gracious  offer 
is  not  all,  "the  rest  (the  leaders  of  the  people)  laying  hold 
of  his  bondmen,  ill-treated  and  slew  them."  The  Book  of 
Acts  show  how  literally  these  words  of  the  Lord  were  ful- 
filled.    The  climax  was  the  stoning  of  Stephen. 

And  after  this  rejected  second  offer  to  the  bidden  guests, 
the  Jews,  comes  the  punishment  sent  upon  them  by  God. 
Their  city  is  destroyed,  burned  by  fire,  and  these  evil  men, 
who  are  now  called  murderers,  suffer  the  judgment  as  well. 
The  Roman  army  came  against  Jerusalem,  the  city  is 
burned ;  that  awful  judgment  the  Lord  had  predicted  when 
He  beheld  the  city,  fell  upon  Jerusalem  and  the  nation  was 
dispersed.  Again  we  say,  what  a  literal  fulfilment!  This 
ends  God's  dealing  with  Israel  as  a  nation  for  the  present 
age.  He  will  deal  with  them  again  ere  long ;  but  nationally 
they  are  set  aside  during  this  age,  which,  however,  does  not 
mean  that  the  individual  Jew  could  not  hear  and  accept  the 
offer  of  Grace. 

Now  follows  something  new.  It  corresponds  to  that  of 
which  we  read  in  the  parable  of  the  sower  in  Matthew  xiii, 
"the  sower  went  out  to  sow."  It  is  now  outside  of  Israel 
nationally  that  the  Grace  of  God  is  offered  and  the  invita- 
tion to  the  wedding  feast  is  given.     The  servants  go  out 


144 

into  the  highways  and  give  the  invitation  and  bring  together 
all  as  many  as  they  found,  both  evil  and  good,  so  that  the 
wedding  feast  was  furnished. 

It  is  clear  that  this  going  forth  of  the  servants  stands  for 
the  Gospel  call  going  out  to  the  Gentiles.  ''By  their  fall 
salvation  is  come  to  the  Gentiles"  as  the  Holy  Spirit  later 
testifies  through  Paul,  is  taught  by  the  Lord  Himself  in  this 
parable. 

Something  follows,  which  is  often  misapplied.  All  the 
confusion  about  the  wedding  garment  springs  from  the 
wrong  conception  of  the  parable,  in  giving  it  a  church  appli- 
cation and  putting  the  scene  into  Heaven.  However,  the 
church  is  here  not  at  all  in  view.  It  is,  as  in  Matthew  xiii, 
the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens,  the  professing  sphere  of  Chris- 
tendom. The  Lord  shows  that  this  sphere  where  His 
Name  is  professed  and  His  gracious  Gospel  invitation  is 
heard,  is  in  a  mixed  condition.  It  is  composed  of  profes- 
sors and  possessors.  The  call  goes  forth,  many  hear  and 
follow  the  call,  but  not  all  believe  with  the  heart  unto  salva- 
tion. The  man  without  the  wedding  garment  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  this  class  and  a  large  class  it  is.  This  is  evident 
from  the  words  with  which  our  Lord  closes  the  parable, 
''For  many  are  called,  but  few  chosen."  The  many  which 
are  called  are  all  those  who  heard  the  call  and  made  an  out- 
ward profession,  without  having  accepted  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  wedding  garment  is  the  same  as  the  "best 
robe"  which  by  the  Father  was  put  upon  the  prodigal.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  is  the  wedding  garment  and  all 
who  are  mere  professors  of  Christ,  without  having  put  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  will  share  the  fate  of  this  man  in  the 
parable.  They  will  be  cast  into  the  outer  darkness.  Awful 
fate  for  every  one  who  has  not  Christ  to  cover  him  in  the 
presence  of  a  holy  and  righteous  God.  However  man  may 
cover  himself,  however  moral  and  cultured  he  may  be,  or 


145 

religious  and  philanthropic,  if  he  has  not  put  on  Christ  he  is 
naked  and  his  place  will  be  where  there  is  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth  forever.  We  only  wish  to  add  that  the 
scene  of  viewing  the  guests  must  not  be  put  in  heaven.  None 
but  those  who  are  Christ's,  saved  and  in  possession  of  eter- 
nal life,  will  be  in  heaven,  and  none  of  those  can  nor  ever 
will  be  cast  out.  It  refers  to  the  same  time  as  Matthew 
xiii  40-43.  Nor  does  the  Lord  teach  the  last  things  here, 
how  judgment  is  to  take  place,  where  and  in  what  order. 
In  a  general  way  He  teaches  this  as  a  warning  that 
though  His  invitation  goes  forth  and  many  hear,  yet  not  all 
will  be  chosen  and  that  simply  because  they  refuse  to  accept 
the  gift  of  God — the  wedding  garment,  which  alone  fits  us 
to  be  in  the  presence  of  the  King. 

The  wonderful  parable  had  been  uttered ;  the  fearful  doom 
of  Jerusalem  and  its  evil  leaders  predicted ;  once  more  the 
Pharisees  are  silent  in  the  presence  of  the  King.  Their 
hearts  and  moral  condition  had  been  uncovered,  but  deter- 
mined to  refuse  the  light  which  shone  upon  them,  their 
darkness  became  greater  than  before.  We  see  them  with- 
drawing from  His  presence.  They  had  nothing  to  say  to 
Him ;  no  answer  to  give ;  no  confession  to  make.  Led  by 
their  evil  hearts,  under  the  control  of  Satan  they  turned 
their  backs  upon  the  Lord.  Light  refused  becomes  darkness. 
"If  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how 
great  is  that  darkness."  This  is  a  solemn  word,  especially 
in  our  day.  Light  received,  truth  revealed  and  not  acted 
upon  and  followed,  results  in  darkness  in  our  days. 

We  see  now  the  Pharisees  in  desperate  council  against 
the  Lord.  "Then  went  the  Pharisees  and  held  council  how 
they  might  ensnare  Him  in  speaking"  (verse  15).  This  was 
their  only  weapon  now.  They  tried  to  find  a  way  to  en- 
snare Him,  and  having  defeated  Him,  they  intended  to  pub- 
lish their  victory  abroad  and  find  cause  to  accuse  Him  and 


146 

reject  Him.  The  second  half  of  this  chapter  is  occupied  with 
the  record  of  these  attempts.  The  three  great  factions, 
Pharisees,  Herodians  and  Sadducees  combine  in  this.  Rit- 
ualists, Worldlings  and  Rationalists  make  common  cause  to 
defeat  the  Lord.  Though  so  essentially  different,  they  unite 
in  this  one  thing,  the  rejection  of  the  Lord.  It  is  not  better 
in  our  day.  First  came  the  Pharisees  and  sent  their  dis- 
ciples with  the  Herodians  to  Him.  After  He  had  answered 
their  very  subtle  question  the  Sadducees  appeared ;  they  also 
have  to  return  completely  silenced.  Then  comes  a  great 
lawyer  of  the  Pharisees  and  he  tempts  and  once  more  the 
Lord  wins  the  victory.  Three  times  the  Devil  tempted  the 
Lord  and  three  times  the  Lord  is  tempted  by  the  leaders  of 
the  people.  No  doubt  the  Pharisees,  Herodians  and  Sad- 
ducees were  but  the  instruments  of  that  evil  being.  Then 
the  Lord  turns  questioner.  He  only  needs  to  put  one  ques- 
tion. They  cannot  answer  Him.  Not  a  word  could  they 
say  nor  did  any  one  dare  from  that  day  to  ask  Him  another 
question.  After  this  the  King  takes  the  place  of  the  Judge 
and  pronounces  judgment  upon  the  corrupt  ecclesiastical 
leaders. 

But  let  us  look  briefly  at  the  account  of  the  temptings. 
"And  they  sent  out  to  Him  their  disciples  with  the  Herod- 
ians, saying,  Teacher,  we  know  that  thou  art  true  and  teach- 
est  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  and  carest  not  for  any  one,  for 
Thou  regardest  not  men's  persons ;  tell  us  therefore  what 
Thou  thinkest :  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not  ? 
But  Jesus,  knowing  their  wickedness,  said,  Why  tempt  ye 
me,  hypocrites?  Show  me  the  money  of  the  tribute.  And 
they  presented  unto  Him  a  denarius.  And  He  says  to  them, 
Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription?  They  say  to  Him, 
Caesar's.  Then  He  says  to  them :  Pay  then  what  is  Caesar's 
to  Caesar  and  what  is  God's  to  God.  And  when  they  heard 
Him  they  wondered  and  left  Him  and  went  away"  (verses 
16-22). 


147 

With  what  cunning  .and  flattery  they  had  approached 
Him.  For  once  they  spoke  the  truth  when  they  had  de- 
clared, "Thou  art  true  and  teachest  the  way  of  God  in 
truth."  But  He  knew  them,  He  read  their  thoughts  and 
sinister  purpose. 

The  temptation  was  a  very  subtle  one.  The  Pharisees 
had  no  doubt  planned  it  all  amongst  themselves  and  had 
brought  the  Herodians  along  as  witnesses  to  take  down  His 
answer.  The  Herodians  were  mean,  low  Jews,  who  favored 
the  political  rule  and  Roman  authority  and  that,  no  doubt, 
for  selfish  reasons.  Had  the  Lord  answered  the  question  in 
the  negative  and  had  He  forbidden  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar, 
these  Herodians  with  the  Pharisees  (whom  the  Herodians 
must  have  hated)  would  certainly  have  accused  the  Lord  as 
being  a  conspirator  against  the  Roman  government.  Had 
the  Lord  answered  the  question  in  the  affirmative  and  de- 
manded that  Caesar  should  receive  tribute,  the  Pharisees 
would  have  claimed  that  He  could  not  be  the  Messiah  of 
Israel,  inasmuch  as  He  taught  subjection  under  a  Gentile 
King.  "There  was  a  strong  party  in  the  land,  with  which, 
not  only  politically  but  religiously,  many  of  the  noblest 
spirits  would  sympathize,  which  maintained,  that  to  pay  the 
tribute  money  to  Caesar  was  virtually  to  own  his  royal  au- 
thority, and  so  to  disown  that  of  Jehovah,  who  alone  was 
Israel's  King.  They  argued  that  all  the  miseries  of  the  land 
and  the  people  were  due  to  this  national  unfaithfulness."* 

To  the  Pharisees  it  must  have  seemed  as  if  for  the  Lord 
there  could  be  no  escape.  Their  astonishment  when  He 
answered  the  question,  in  His  heavenly  wisdom,  shows  that 
they  had  not  anticipated  any  defeat  at  all. 

They  had  to  show  Him  the  tribute  money  and  on  it  ap- 
peared the  image  and  superscription  of  Caesar.     They  had 


*Edersheim. 


148 

to  make  the  declaration  whose  image  it  was.  And  in  His 
answer  He  tells  them  plainly  that  not  only  should  that  be 
given  to  Caesar  which  is  Caesar's,  but  unto  God  that  which 
is  God's.  How  was  it  that  the  people  had  to  give  at  all 
tribute  to  Caesar?  Did  God  mean  that  His  people  should 
be  under  Gentile  rule  and  power?  What  had  put  them 
there?  If  they  had  given  to  God  that  which  is  God's  they 
would  never  have  had  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar.  Now  that 
they  had  put  themselves  by  their  sin  and  apostasy  in  that 
condition  they  were  to  render  that  to  Caesar  which  belongs 
to  him  and  to  God  what  is  His.  This  surely  was  a  divine 
answer  such  as  only  the  Lord  Himself  could  give.  They 
could  give  no  answer.    They  wondered  and  went  away. 

The  Sadducees  appear  next  upon  the  scene.  These  de- 
niers  of  the  resurrection  come  with  a  temptation  of  their 
own.  "On  the  same  day  there  came  unto  Him  Sadducees, 
who  say  there  is  no  resurrection,  and  they  asked  Him  say- 
ing, Teacher,  Moses  said,  if  a  man  die,  not  having  children, 
that  his  brother  should  marry  his  wife,  and  raise  up  seed 
unto  his  brother.  Now  there  were  with  us  seven  brothers, 
and  the  first  having  married  died,  and  not  having  seed  left 
his  wife  to  his  brother.  In  like  manner  also  the  second  and 
the  third,  unto  the  seventh.  And  last  of  all  the  woman  also 
died.  In  the  resurrection  therefore  of  which  of  the  seven 
shall  she  be  wife,  for  all  had  her?" 

This  attempt  is  as  blunt  as  the  other  was  subtle.  The 
Sadducees  denied  both  the  resurrection  and  the  existence  of 
angels;  it  was  not  at  all  believed  by  them  what  they  had 
asked.  There  was  also  a  sneer  at  the  Pharisees  in  their 
words.  The  question  is  based  on  the  divine  law  as  given 
through  Moses  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  (chapter  xxv:5, 
etc.).  However,  the  law  in  this  respect  was  far  from  being 
practiced  in  those  days,  and  the  interpreters  of  this  law  had 
put  all  kinds  of  limitations  upon  it.    There  may,  of  course, 


149 

be  a  case  possible  like  the  one  recited  by  the  Sadducees,  but 
it  is  unlikely  that  it  was  a  real  case  they  laid  before  Him ;  it 
was  no  doubt  gotten  up  for  the  occasion.  Ignorance,  un- 
belief and  sarcasm  prompted  this  question.  And  what  did 
He  answer?  He  lays  bare  both  their  ignorance  of  the 
Scripture  and  the  power  of  God.  "And  Jesus  answering 
said  to  them,  Ye  err  not  knowing  the  Scriptures  nor  the 
power  of  God"  (verse  29).  They  did  not  believe  in  the 
Scriptures  as  the  God  breathed  Word;  they  were  the 
"Higher  Critics"  of  their  day.  But  the  Lord- does  not  try 
to  prove  to  them  the  validity  of  the  Scriptures,  but  tells 
them  that  they  are  ignorant.  Then  He  continues,  "For  in 
the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage, but  are  as  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  In  a  few  words 
the  Lord  affirms  the  truth  of  resurrection,  the  existence  of 
angels,  which  they  denied,  and  shows  that  their  carnal  im- 
aginations were  but  the  result  of  their  carnal  hearts.  The 
body  of  humiliation  will  not  be  continued  in  resurrection  and 
earthly  relations  such  as  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage 
will  cease  there.  The  Lord  of  course  does  not  teach  about 
resurrection  itself  in  this  passage.  His  purpose  is  to  answer 
the  Sadducees  with  their  foolish  question.  What  He  had 
stated  about  the  state  of  resurrection  was  generally  believed 
by  the  Jews  living  at  that  time.  The  rabbis  declared, 
as  learned  from  talmudical  literature,  "that  in  the  world  to 
come  there  would  be  neither  eating  nor  drinking,  fruitful- 
ness  nor  increase,  business  nor  envy,  hatred  nor  strife,  but 
that  the  righteous  would  sit  with  crowns  on  their  heads 
and  feast  on  the  splendor  of  the  Shekinah." 

He  has  still  an  additional  word  to  say  about  resurrection, 
which  is  convincing  proof  that  there  will  be  a  resurrection. 
"But  concerning  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  have  ye  not 
read  what  was  spoken  to  you  by  God,  saying,  I  am  the  God 
of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob? 


*5d 

God  is  not  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.  And  when 
the  multitude  heard  it  they  were  astonished  at  His  doctrine" 
(verses  30-32).  God  calls  Himself  by  the  name  of  these 
three  men  (Exodus  iii),  and  as  He  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  the  God  of  the  living,  therefore  a  resurrection 
must  take  place.  There  was  nothing  left  for  the  Sadducees 
then  but  to  withdraw. 

Once  more  the  Pharisees  appear.  "But  the  Pharisees, 
having  heard  that  He  had  put  the  Sadducees  to  silence, 
were  gathered  together.  And  one  of  them,  a  lawyer,  de- 
manded, tempting  Him,  and  saying,  Teacher,  which  is  the 
great  commandment  in  the  law,  And  He  said  to  him,  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  understanding.  This  is  the  great 
and  first  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like  it,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  command- 
ments the  whole  law  and  the  prophets  hang"  (verses  34-40). 
There  were  various  disputations  among  the  Jewish  scribes, 
the  lawyers,  about  the  greatest  commandment,  but  the  Lord 
does  not  enter  into  these  at  all.  Once  more  His  answer 
manifests  perfect  wisdom  and  according  to  the  record  given 
in  the  Gospel  of  Mark  the  lawyer  was  greatly  moved  by 
this  answer.  The  Lord  told  him,  "Thou  art  not  far  from 
the  kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  xii:34).  However,  the  ques- 
tioner did  not  realize  that  He  who  stood  before  him  in  that 
hour  was  Jehovah  Himself,  the  giver  of  the  law. 

After  this  the  hopelessness  of  their  case  is  apparent.  They 
gathered  together  in  a  group,  but  none  can  suggest  a  new 
question,  another  temptation.  All  their  attempts  had  proven 
futile.  The  Lord  now  approaches  them.  He  has  a  question 
for  them.  The  question  of  the  Messiah,  His  personality, 
was  never  touched  upon  by  the  Pharisees  and  it  was  after 
all  the  most  important.  The  Lord  has  a  question  for  them 
about  Himself,  and,  unlike  the  Pharisees,  he  uses  the  Scrip- 


ture,  quoting  from  His  own  Word.  "And  the  Pharisees 
being  gathered  together,  Jesus  demanded  of  them,  saying, 
What  think  ye  concerning  the  Christ?  Whose  Son  is  He? 
They  say  to  Him,  David's.  He  says  to  them,  How,  then, 
does  David  in  Spirit  call  Him  Lord,  saying,  The  Lord  said 
to  my  Lord,  Sit  on  my  right  hand  until  I  put  thine  enemies 
under  thy  feet?  If,  therefore,  David  call  Him  Lord,  How 
is  He  His  son?  And  no  one  was  able  to  answer  Him  a 
word,  nor  did  any  one  dare  from  that  day  to  question  Him 
any  more"  (verses  41-46). 

It  is  from  the  ex  Psalm  the  Lord  draws  His  question. 
This  Psalm  is  one  of  the  great  messianic  prophecies  in 
the  Old  Testament.  It  is  very  prominent  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  where  it  is  quoted  a  number  of  times  as  being 
fulfilled  in  Him,  who  is  now  the  man  of  glory,  seated  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high,  waiting  till  His  enemies 
are  made  His  footstool.  This  will  be  done  when  He  comes 
again.  In  sending  Him,  the  First  begotten,  into  the  world, 
God  will  put  down  all  his  enemies.  It  is  almost  impossible 
to  believe  that,  with  the  evidences  from  Scripture,  such  as 
the  word  of  our  Lord  and  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  certain  men  who  call  them- 
selves "scholars"  and  assume  the  place  of  "critics"  can  deny 
the  ex  Psalm  was  composed  by  David  and  that  the  Psalm 
has  any  messianic  reference  at  all.  This  surely  is  wicked 
unbelief,  as  pronounced,  perhaps  more  so,  than  the  unbelief 
of  the  Pharisees. 

Well,  the  Pharisees  here  answer  that  Messiah  is  to  be  the 
Son  of  David.  They  were  professed  teachers  of  Israel  and 
still  they  did  not  understand  the  Scriptures.  The  question 
the  Lord  now  puts  to  them,  David  calling  Him  who  is  to  be 
a  son  of  his,  Lord,  that  is  Jehovah,  they  could  not,  perhaps 
would  not,  answer.  The  passage  teaches  clearly  who  Mes- 
siah is.     He  is  Jehovah  incarnate,  the  Son  of  David   and 


15^ 

David's  Lord.  And  the  interrogator  is  He.  His  Davidic 
descent  could  not  be  denied ;  that  He  has  a  legal  title  to  the 
throne  of  David  is  clearly  proven  by  the  genealogy.  In  His 
ministry  throughout  these  years,  He  had  manifested  Himself 
in  His  mighty  works  as  Jehovah.  They  could  give  Him  no 
answer.  Solemn  moment  it  was.  No  answer!  No  repent- 
ance! They  are  silenced,  and  when  they  open  their  lips 
again  it  is  to  cry  "Crucify  Him !"  The  end  is  now  coming 
on  rapidly.  In  the  next  chapter  He  speaks  as  Judge  pro- 
nouncing His  judgment  upon  the  leaders  of  the  nation. 


153 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

For  the  last  time  we  have  seen  the  Pharisees  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  in  the  previous  chapter.  What  an  im- 
portant part  these  ecclesiastical  leaders  of  the  professing 
people  of  God  play  in  this  Gospel.  They  rejected  Him; 
hated  Him  without  a  cause,  and  after  they  found  they  could 
not  ensnare  Him  they  resorted  to  that  which  Satan  had  put 
into  their  wicked  hearts  "that  they  might  kill  Him."  That 
which  the  Lord  had  foretold  in  His  parable  of  the  vineyard 
is  now  soon  to  take  place.  They  made  their  plans  and  are 
ready  to  take  their  King  and  deliver  Him  into  the  hands 
of  the  Gentiles  to  be  crucified.  He  is  now  soon  to  be  taken, 
delivered  into  man's  hand,  going  to  the  cross,  where  He, 
who  knew  no  sin,  was  to  be  made  sin  for  us.  How  solemn 
His  words  when  He  stood  before  Pilate  and  declared,  "Thou 
hadst  no  authority  whatever  against  me  if  it  were  not  given 
to  thee  from  above.  On  this  account  he  that  has  delivered 
me  up  to  thee  has  greater  sin."  But  before  we  reach  the 
story  of  the  passion  of  the  King,  so  wonderfully  told  in  this 
Gospel,  we  find  the  King  first  of  all  passing  judgment  upon 
these  evil  leaders  of  the  people.  In  the  next  place  we  have 
recorded,  as  nowhere  else  in  the  Gospel  records,  the  great 
Olivet  discourse,  in  which  the  King  reveals  the  future. 
Here  we  find  prophecy  concerning  the  Jews  and  Jerusalem, 
the  church  and  the  Gentiles. 

The  chapter  which  is  before  us  contains  the  "Woes''  of 
the  King  upon  the  Pharisees.  It  is  one  of  the  most  solemn 
ones  in  Matthew.  Pharisaism  is  still  in  the  earth;  Ritual- 
ism, Traditionalism  and  with  it  the  rejection  of  the  authority 


154 

of  the  Lord  and  His  written  Word,  is  Pharisaism,  that  evil 
leaven  against  which  the  Lord  warns.  This  Christian  Phar- 
isaism is  far  worse  than  the  old  Jewish  System.  And  where 
in  Christendom  is  a  little  of  that  leaven  lacking?  Only  the 
Grace  of  God,  an  unbroken  fellowship  with  the  Father  and 
His  Son  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  can  keep  the 
individual  believer  from  manifesting  a  Pharisaical  spirit. 

"Then  Jesus  spoke  to  the  multitude  and  to  His  disciples, 
saying:  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  have  set  themselves 
down  in  Moses'  seat;  all  things  therefore,  whatever  they 
may  tell  you,  do  not  keep.  But  do  not  after  their  works, 
for  they  say  and  do  not,  but  bind  burdens  heavy  and  hard 
to  bear,  and  lay  them  on  the  shoulders  of  men,  but  will  not 
move  them  with  their  finger.  And  all  their  works  they  do  to 
be  seen  of  men :  for  they  make  broad  their  phylacteries  and 
enlarge  the  borders  of  their  garments,  and  love  the  chief 
place  in  feasts,  and  the  first  seats  in  the  synagogue,  and 
salutations  in  the  market  places,  and  to  be  called  of  men, 
Rabbi,  Rabbi.  But  ye,  be  ye  not  called  Rabbi ;  for  one  is 
your  instructor,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.  And  call  not  any 
one  your  father  upon  earth ;  for  one  is  your  Father,  He 
who  is  in  the  heavens.  Neither  be  called  leaders,  for  one  is 
your  leader,  the  Christ.  But  the  greatest  of  you  shall  be 
your  servant.  And  whoever  shall  exalt  himself  shall  be 
humbled,  and  whoever  shall  humble  himself  shall  be  ex- 
alted" (verses  1-12).  These  are  indeed  cutting  words.  Out 
of  His  mouth  goes  a  two-edged  sword.  Well  may  these 
words  be  placed  in  connection  with  the  church  message  to 
Pergamos,  in  which  the  glorified  Christ  saith,  "These  things 
says  He  that  has  the  sharp  two-edged  sword."  Pergamos 
shows  prophetically  that  period  of  the  church  when  Ritual- 
ism, Nicolaitanism  (Clericalism)  came  in  like  a  flood  and  a 
certain  class  of  men  assumed  the  place  of  authority  in  the 
church,  as  leaders,  priests,  and  began  to  dictate  and  teach 


155 

the  traditions  of  men.  And  ever  since  that  time  and  through 
that  into  which  Pergamos  developed,  Thyatira  (Roman- 
Catholicism),  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  has  worked  on  in 
Christendom  and  is  still  working.  The  Lord  speaks  first  of 
all  of  the  place  which  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  had  chosen. 
They  had  placed  themselves  in  Moses'  seat.  This  no  doubt 
He  spoke  in  reference  to  legislation  and  not  in  regard  to 
doctrine. 

They  had  occupied  the  legislative  seat,  and  when  their 
sect  started  it  was  with  a  zeal  for  the  law,  which  God  had 
given  through  Moses.  Scon,  however,  they  became  corrupt. 
In  that  part  of  the  Talmud  which  is  called  the  Mishnah* 
it  is  stated  that  they  were  to  be  regarded  as  if  put  into 
that  place  by  Moses  himself,  taking  their  places  in  his  seat, 
and  were  to  be  obeyed,  so  far  as  outward  observations  were 
concerned. 

As  far  as  the  God  given  law  was  concerned  and  its 
observances,  they  were  to  do  and  to  keep  what  the  Pharisees 
said.  What  a  wise  exhortation  this  is !  He,  the  King, 
fully  recognized  the  position  they  had  taken ;  if  He  had 
spoken  otherwise,  they  might  have  accused  Him  of  inciting 
the  multitudes  to  riot  against  their  authority.  Romans 
xiii:i~7  contains  a  similar  wise  exhortation  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  for  this  present  age.  Against  which  the  Lord  warns 
is  their  works.  There  were  two  great  schools  among  these 
Pharisees  as  we  stated  before ;  the  school  of  Hillel 
and  the  school  of  Shammai.  These  were  occupied 
with  interpretations  of  the  law.  What  strange  inter- 
pretations were  given,  what  tedious  burdens  were 
bound    upon   the    people,    which    God    never    meant,    could 


*The  Talmud  is  composed  of  two  parts,  the  Gcmara  and  the 
Mishna.  Mishna  means  "repetition,"  and  was  a  repetition  of  the 
written  law. 


156 

easily  be  illustrated  and  demonstrated  by  quotations  from 
that  tremendous  literary  work,  the  Talmud.  "The  burdens 
became  intolerable.  The  blame  rested  equally  on  both  the 
great  rabbinic  schools.  For  although  the  school  of  Hillel 
was  supposed  in  general  to  make  the  yoke  lighter,  and  that 
of  Shammai  heavier,  yet  not  only  did  they  agree  on  many 
points,  but  the  school  of  Hillel  was  not  un frequently  even 
more  strict  than  that  of  his  rival.  In  truth  their  differences 
seem  too  often  only  prompted  by  a  spirit  of  opposition,  so 
that  the  serious  business  of  religion  became  in  their  hands 
one  of  rival  authority  and  mere  wrangling1'  (Edersheim). 
But  while  they  put  these  burdens  upon  the  people  and  domi- 
neered over  them  they  neither  kept  them  nor  did  they  move 
a  finger  to  remove  them.  In  connection  with  this  external 
show  of  religion,  for  which  the  Pharisees  stood,  the  Phylac- 
teries are  mentioned.  The  general  Christian  reader  has 
little  information  about  the  meaning  of  this  word.  The 
word  "phylacteries"  means  "observatories"  to  keep  the  re- 
membrance of  the  Law  alive.  In  different  parts  of  the 
Pentateuch  we  read  these  words,  "And  thou  shalt  bind 
these  words  for  a  sign  on  thy  hand,  and  they  shall  be  for 
frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou  shalt  write  them 
upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  upon  thy  gates"  (Exod. 
xiii:o,-i6;  Dent,  vi  :g,  etc.).  The  last  named  injunction, 
"Write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,"  is  literally  prac- 
tised by  orthodox  Jews,  by  writing  these  words  upon  a  piece 
of  parchment,  inclosing  them  in  a  tin  box,  and  this  box  is 
nailed  on  the  door  posts.  From  the  same  words  the  phylac- 
teries, or  tcplullin,  were  instituted.  These  are  two  strips  of 
leather  to  each  of  which  is  attached  a  small  box ;  in  these 
boxes  there  are  likewise  pieces  of  parchment  upon  which  the 
Hebrew  text  of  Deut.  vi  14-8  is  written.  The  one  leather 
strip  with  this  box  is  wound  around  the  forehead,  the  box 
resting  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead,  while  the  second  strip 


157 

is  wound  around  the  arm,  the  left  arm,  which  is  nearest  to 
the  heart.  The  ends  of  this  one  is  made  to  form  the  Hebrew 
letter  "shin"  which  stands  for  Shaddai,  the  Almighty. 
Strange  and  curious  laws  are  connected  with  the  preparation 
of  the  phylacteries,  the  wearing  of  them ;  the  rabbinical 
writings  contain  much  on  the  phylacteries  which  is  super- 
stitious. Thus  the  talmudical  tract  Berachoth  declares,  "It 
is  necessary  to  wear  the  phylacteries  nights  in  the  home  as 
they  drive  away  the  demons."  Orthodox  Jews  use  them  as 
their  fathers  did,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  wearing  of 
phylacteries  in  the  twentieth  century  by  strictly  orthodox 
Jews  and  their  belief  in  them  is  the  same  as  in  the  days  when 
our  Lord  spake  these  words.  It  is  seen  that  the  phylacteries 
sprung  from  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  above  passages 
in  the  Pentateuch,  an  outward  religious  observance  for 
which  there  was  no  foundation  whatever  in  the  law.  The 
Lord,  however,  does  not  attack  this,  we  believe,  ancient 
custom,  but  He  attacks  the  habits  of  the  Pharisees  to  wear 
the  phylacteries  and  the  enlarged  borders  of  their  garments 
(Num.  xv  138),  so  as  to  be  seen  of  men.  They  did  it  all  for 
show ;  selfishness  controlled  them  and  they  had  no  heart  for 
the  things  of  God.  They  loved  the  first  places,  the  honor 
and  praise  of  men;  flatterers,  they  enjoyed  and  loved  to  r 
ceive  honoring  salutations  from  the  side  of  men  in  ma.  ..  t 
places.  "Rabbi,  Rabbi,"  which  means  teacher  or  instructor, 
they  loved  to  be  addressed  as  well  as  "Abba,"  which  is 
"father."  All  these  titles  simply  sprang  from  their  self- 
seeking.  The  Lord  now  gives  teaching,  telling  his  hearers 
that  which  concerns  of  course  disciples  alone,  that  they  are 
brethren  and  that  they  have  but  one  teacher,  the  Christ  Him- 
self; that  they  should  not  call  man  father,  but  one  is  their 
Father,  God  Himself.  The  greatest  of  His  own  is  the  One, 
who  is  a  servant  of  all.  This  reaches  over  into  the  new 
dispensation.    The  instructor,  the  guide,  is  the  Lord  and  the 


158 

Holy  Spirit.  Alas !  how  the  enemy  has  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing and  fostering  this  distinctive  mark  of  Pharisaism  in 
Christendom,  with  its  man-made  institutions,  titles,  honors, 
offices  and  leaderships.  It  was  not  so  in  the  beginning,  but 
corruption  has  entered  in  and  we  find  at  the  end  of  the  age  a 
Pharisaism  far  worse  than  that  which  the  Lord  here  con- 
demns. And  there  is  a  judgment  coming  upon  that  boasting, 
proud,  Pharisaical,  ritualistic  Christendom.  The  judgment 
broke  over  the  heads  of  the  Pharisees,  their  religious  sys- 
tem, and  so  will  it  break  over  Christendom.  Then  those  who 
exalted  themselves  will  be  humbled  and  those  who  humbled 
themselves  will  be  exalted.  What  an  encouragement  for 
every  true  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  follow, 
strictly  these  words  of  our  Lord,  to  go  on  under  Him  as 
Lord  and  under  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit,  to  have  no 
name  among  men,  but  to  be  known  of  God.  In  this  there  is 
rest  and  joy  and  the  power  of  God  rests  upon  the  testimony 
of  such  who  serve  in  this  spirit. 

And  there  is  a  deeper  meaning  still  to  verses  8-10.  We 
quote  from  one  who  has  expressed  it  in  simple  as  well  as 
beautiful  language.  "It  is  a  declaration  of  the.  essential 
relations  of  man  to  God.  Three  things  constitute  a  Chris- 
tian :  What  He  is,  what  he  believes,  what  he  does ;  doctrine, 
experience,  practice.  Man  needs  for  his  spiritual  being 
three  things:  Life,  instruction,  guidance;  just  what  our 
Lord  declares  in  the  ten  words  of  the  Gospel,  T  am  the  way, 
and  the  truth  and  the  life.'  The  Roman  Catholic  'church' 
.  .  .  has  caught  these  three  things  with  its  usual  insight, 
and  avows  its  ability  to  supply  them.  The  office  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  'church'  is  claimed  to  be  threefold:  the 
priestly  office  imparting  and  sustaining  life  by  means  of  the 
sacraments ;  the  teaching  office  endowed  with  infallibility ; 
the  guiding  office  by  spiritual  confessors.  These  three  things 
are  just  what  our  Lord  forbids  in  the  passage  under  con- 


159 

sideration.  Acknowledge  no  man  as  Father;  for  no  man 
can  impart  or  sustain  spiritual  life;  install  no  man  as  an 
infallible  teacher ;  allow  no  one  to  assume  the  office  of 
spiritual  director;  your  relation  to  God  and  to  Christ  is  as 
close  as  that  of  any  other  person."* 

And  now  the  Lord  takes  up  His  "Woes."  It  is  a  fearful 
uncovering  of  the  hearts  of  the  Pharisees  and  their  corrup- 
tion. And  thus  He  lays  bare  the  hidden  things.  He  will  do 
so  again.  There  are  eight  woes  given  in  this  chapter,  though 
it  seems  the  fourteenth  verse  does  not  belong  to  this  chap- 
ter. It  is,  however,  found  in  both  the  Gospels  of  Mark  and 
Luke,  so  that  it  is  evident  the  Lord  also  uttered  these  words. 
In  different  respects  there  is  a  correspondency  between  the 
first  discourse  of  our  Lord  in  this  Gospel,  the  sermon  on  the 
mountain  and  the  last  one  addressed  to  the  multitudes  and  to 
His  disciples.  The  Olivet  discourse  is  addressed  exclusively 
to  the  disciples,  who  have  asked  Him.  The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  as  generally  the  great  discourse  in  the  fifth,  sixth 
and  seventh  chapters  of  this  Gospel  is  called,  was  addressed 
to  the  multitudes  and  the  disciples.  What  this  great  dis- 
course stands  for,  the  proclamation  of  the  King,  we  learned 
in  our  exposition.  He  sat  there  as  the  great  One  greater 
than  Moses,  expounding  and  expanding  the  Law.  Here  He 
is  upon  the  seat  of  judgment ;  the  King  is  the  Judge.  In  the 
sermon  on  the  Mount  He  utters  His  Blessings,  Beatitudes, 
but  here  as  judge  He  pronounces  His  Woes. 

We  shall  not  follow  these  woes  in  a  detailed  exposition, 
but  mention  the  leading  thoughts  in  them. 

"But  woe  unto  you  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  for 
ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  before  men;  for  ye 
do  not  enter,  nor  do  ye  suffer  those  that  are  entering  to  go 
in"    (verse    13).     The   Kingdom   has   been   preached   unto 


*Weston:  The  Genesis  of  the  New  Testament. 


i6o 

them,  but  they  shut  willfully  their  eyes  and  turned  away  from 
the  light,  which  had  burst  upon  them.  They  did  not  enter 
in  and  kept  others  away  from  it.  And  this  is  an  awful 
"woe"  which  falls  likewise  upon  the  modern  Pharisees, 
though  in  a  different  sense.  How  many  of  the  man-made 
"priests"  and  "teachers,"  following  the  traditions  of  men, 
usurping  the  place  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  themselves 
unsaved  and  keep  others  from  knowing  the  truth. 

Omitting  that  which  is  given  as  the  next  verse,  we  read 
the  second  Woe.  "Woe  to  you  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites,  for  ye  compass  the  sea  and  the  dry  land  to  make 
one  proselyte,  and  when  he  is  become  such,  ye  make  him 
twofold  more  the  son  of  hell  than  yourselves"  (verse  15). 
Coming  from  such  lips,  what  a  condemnation  they  contain ! 
1  ney  were  sectarians,  and  sectarianism  is  the  fruit  of 
the  flesh,  as  clearly  taught  in  the  Epistles.  They  did  every- 
thing to  make  proselytes,  and  that  too  for  selfish  motives. 
Proselytism  was  condemned  by  the  rabbinical  schools.  One 
of  the  talmudical  sayings  is,  "Proselytes  are  as  a  scab  to 
Israel."  It  was  for  selfish  reasons  they  made  proselytes  to 
their  sect.  Is  it  any  different  in  the  proselyting  Christen- 
dom, down  to  the  smallest  party?  And  after  they  had  at- 
tracted some  to  themselves  they  made  them  worse  than  they 
were.    An  awful  indictment  indeed. 

Woe  unto  you,  blind  guides,  who  say,  Whosoever  shall 
swear  by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing;  but  whosoever  shall 
swear  by  the  gold  of  the  temple  he  is  a  debtor.  Fools  and 
blind,  for  which  is  greater,  the  gold,  or  the  temple  which 
sanctifieth  the  gold?  And,  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the 
altar,  it  is  nothing;  but  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  gift 
that  is  upon  it  is  a  debtor.  Fools  and  blind  ones,  for  which 
is  greater,  the  gift,  or  the  altar  which  sanctifieth  the  gift? 
He  therefore  that  sweareth  by  the  altar  swears  by  it  and  by 
all  things  that  are  upon  it.     And  he  that  sweareth  by  the 


i6i 

temple  swears  by  it  and  by  Him  that  dwells  in  it"  (verses 
16-22.)  Without  following  this  woe  in  every  word,  it  is 
evident  that  these  leaders  loved  the  gold  of  the  temple  more 
than  the  temple  and  the  gift  which  was  upon  the  altar  more 
than  the  altar.     Fools  and  blind  guides  they  were. 

"Woe  to  you  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  for  ye  pay 
tithes  of  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  ye  have  left  aside 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment  and  mercy  and 
faith ;  these  ye  ought  to  have  done  and  not  have  left  those 
aside.  Blind  guides  who  strain  out  the  gnat,  but  drink  down 
the  camel"  (verses  23-24). 

Their  self-righteousness  and  piety  consisted  in  being  very 
scrupulous  about  minor  things,  while  the  important  matters 
v;ere  completely  ignored  by  them.  They  strained  at  a  gnat 
and  swallowed  a  camel.  It  is  not  different  to-day.  The 
little  unessential  things  in  religious  practices  are  unduly 
magnified,  while  the  important  matters  are  ignored.  "Woe 
to  you  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  for  ye  make  clean 
the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  dish,  but  within  they  are 
full  of  rapine  and  intemperance.  Blind  Pharisees,  make 
clean  first  the  inside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  dish,  that  their 
outside  also  may  become  clean.  Woe  to  you  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites,  for  ye  are  like  whited  sepulchres 
which  appear  beautiful  outwardly,  but  within  are  full  of 
dead  men's  bones  and  all  uncleanness.  Thus  also  ye,  out- 
wardly ye  appear  righteous  to  men,  but  within  are  full  of 
hypocrisies  and  lawlessness.  Woe  to  you,  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, hypocrites,  for  ye  build  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets 
and  adorn  the  tombs  of  the  just,  and  ye  say,  If  we  had  been 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers  we  would  not  have  been  par- 
takers with  them  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets.  So  that  you 
bear  witness  of  yourselves  that  ye  are  sons  of  those  who 
slew  the  prophets ;  and  ye,  fill  up  the  measure  of  your 
fathers.  Serpents,  offspring  of  vipers,  how  should  ye  es- 
cape the  judgment  of  hell?"  (verses  25-33), 


1 62 

These  are  the  concluding  woes.  They  need  not  much 
comment.  Pharisiaism  keeps  the  outside  clean,  while  inside 
there  is  corruption  and  death.  There  is  a  self-righteous, 
religious  boasting  of  being  more  advanced  than  the  fathers 
and  more  tolerant  than  they  were.  But  the  omniscient  One 
reads  their  hearts  and  declares  that  they  fill  up  the  measure 
of  the  fathers.  They  were  unsaved  men,  not  the  offspring 
of  God,  but  of  vipers ;  their  father,  the  devil ;  and  they  were 
facing  judgment  of  Gehenna. 

Other  words  were  uttered  by  the  King.  These  are  found 
in  the  three  verses  which  follow.  He  would  send  them 
prophets  and  wise  men  and  scribes,  and  they  were  to  kill 
them,  crucify  them,  persecute  them,  and  all  the  righteous 
blood  shed  upon  the  earth  should  come  upon  them.  This 
was  to  come  upon  that  generation.  What  they  hear  from 
His  lips  another  witness  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  Stephen, 
1ells  them;  with  the  stoning  of  Stephen  the  measure  was 
filled  up  and  judgment  came. 

And  now  the  sublime,  mournful  ending.  The  last  word 
of  the  King  to  Jerusalem.  "Jerusalem>  Jerusalem,  the  city 
that  kills  the  prophets  and  stones  those  that  are  sent  to  her, 
how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  as  a  hen 
gathers  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not ! 
Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate ;  for  I  say  unto 
you,  Ye  shall  in  no  wise  see  me  henceforth  until  ye  say, 
Blessed  be  He  that  comes  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

What  a  loving,  sublime  lamentation  this  is !  The  King 
is  a  King  of  Love  and  His  heart  yearns  over  His  city  Jeru- 
salem. How  He  did  long  for  them !  The  illustration  He 
uses  is  one  they  fully  understood,  not  alone  by  its  simplicity, 
a  hen  gathering  her  chickens,  but  also  because  their  elders 
had  mentioned  this  very  fact.  The  Rabbis  spoke  of  Messiah 
under  the  name  of  the  Shck'uiah  and  declared  that  Israel 
would  be  gathered  under  the  wings  of  the  Shekinah,  where 


163 

they  would  find  rest  and  blessing.  And  now  the  Shekinah 
was  with  them.  The  promised  One  has  come  and  they 
would  not  have  Him.  They  turned  away  from  Jehovah, 
their  King.  Their  house — no  longer  "the  Father's  house" — ■ 
is  to  be  left  desolate.  They  would  see  Kim  in  no  wise 
henceforth.  That  this  has  a  national  significance,  the  re- 
jection of  them  is  evident.  And  no  sooner  were  the  words 
spoken  than  He  left  the  temple  and  went  away. 

But  the  discourse  which  has  nothing  but  Woes  ends  with 
a  "Blessed,"  and  here  comes  in  the  bright  ray  of  hope  for 
Israel.  "Ye  shall  in  no  wise  see  me  henceforth  until  ye 
say,  Blessed  be  He  that  comes  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
This  is  the  promise  of  His  second  Coming,  and  whc.i.  He 
comes  He  will  find  a  believing  remnant  of  that  very  people, 
welcoming  Him  with  the  messianic  greeting  of  the  cxviii 
Psalm.  Then  the  Shekinah-Glory  will  spread  over  Jeru- 
salem and  Israel's  land,  and  He  that  scattered  Israel  will 
gather  them  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  It  is  a 
strange  and  evil  doctrine  which  maintains  that  inasmuch  as 
the  woes  were  spoken  upon  these  Pharisees,  that  they  are 
also  to  see  Him  again.  It  is  claimed  that  these  wicked 
Pharisees,  the  offspring  of  vipers,  who  could  not  escape  the 
judgment  of  hell,  are  all  to  be  raised  from  the  dead  when 
Christ  comes  again  and  have  "a  second  chance"  to  see  Him, 
and  that  then  they  will  receive  Him.  Such  Jewish  univer- 
salism  has  no  Scripture  foundation  whatever.  It  is  a  rem- 
nant which  will  behold  the  King  coming  out  of  the  opened 
heavens  in  the  day  of  His  manifestation. 


164 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

In  the  two  chapters,  which  follow,  we  have  the  great 
Olivet  discourse  of  our  Lord. 

Next  to  the  thirteenth  of  Matthew,  the  seven  parables, 
these  two  chapters  are  the  most  misunderstood.  We  shall 
have  occasion  to  point  out  the  erroneous  interpretations 
which  spring  mostly  from  a  false  conception  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

First  of  all  we  shall  look  at  the  twenty-fourth  and 
twenty-fifth  chapters  in  a  general  way.  We  mention 
them  together  for  they  should  never  be  separated.  The 
Olivet  discourse,  was  spoken  in  answer  to  the  questions 
the  disciples  had  asked  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  Mark  and 
Luke  the  Spirit  of  God  has  recorded  parts  of  this  dis- 
course, but  only  in  the  first  Gospel,  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, do  we  find  a  full  report.  This  is  in  fullest  harmony 
with  the  scope  of  the  Gospel 

"I  will  raise  them  up  a  prophet  from  among  their 
brethren,  like  unto  thee."  Thus  God  had  spoken  to  Moses 
(Deut.  xviii:i8).  We  know  from  the  Book  of  Acts  that 
this  was  a  prophecy  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  person  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  iii  :22  and  vii  137).  But  the  Lord 
is  greater  than  Moses  (Hebrews  iii  15-6).  In  the  first 
great  discourse  in  this  Gospel,  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
He  expounded  the  law  and  spoke  with  greater  authority 
than  Moses  ever  could  speak ;  "I  say  unto  you."  He  ful- 
filled the  law.  But  Moses  was  also  a  prophet.  Before 
he  left  his  people,  he  uttered  a  great  prophecy.  This  is 
found  in  Deuteronomy  xxxii.    It  is  in  the  form  of  a  song, 


s65 

a  wonderful  inspired  unfolding  of  the  history  of  Israel 
God's  dealings  with  them  in  the  past  is  reviewed  and 
then  follows  a  forecast  of  their  future  to  the  very  end, 
which  up  to  the  present  time  has  not  yet  been  reachedo 
This  is  followed  by  the  Blessing  of  Moses,  likewise  a 
prophecy. 

And  now  He,  who  is  greater  than  Moses,  the  prophet 
like  unto  Moses  utters  a  great  prophecy,  more  complete 
and  far-reaching  than  that  of  Moses.  He,  Jehovah,  had 
come  in  the  midst  of  His  people.  As  king  He  had  of- 
fered the  promised  kingdom;  He  and  the  offer  of  the 
kingdom  had  been  rejected  by  His  own,  and  now  before 
He  goes  to  the  cross  to  fulfil  all  that  was  written  con- 
cerning His  sufferings  in  the  law  and  the  prophets,  He 
predicts  events  connected  with  the  end  of  the  age  and 
His  future  glorious  manifestation,  which  will  usher  in 
that  new  age  of  blessing  and  glory,  of  which  His  own 
Spirit  testified  in  all  the  prophets. 

The  Olivet  discourse  is  a  great  prophecy,  the  King's 
last,  great  utterance.  It  was  spoken,  as  we  shall  see  later, 
in  answer  to  the  question  of  the  disciples.  He  had  just 
predicted  the  destruction  of  the  magnificent  temple  build- 
ings, and  while  He  sat  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where 
in  the  future  His  glorious  feet  shall  stand  in  the  hour 
of  His  manifestation,  they  asked  Him:  "Tell  us  when 
shall  these  things  be?  And  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  Thy 
coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  Age?"  We  shall  find  later 
that  here  in  Matthew,  the  Spirit  of  God  in  giving  us  the 
discourse  does  not  give  us  the  words  which  relate  to  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  which  was  then  standing.  He 
omits  here  certain  words,  which,  however,  are  given  in 
the  Gospel  of  Luke.  All  this  and  much  else  our  exposi- 
tion will  bring  out. 


i66 

The  discourse  itself  is  divided  into  three  great  parts 
clearly  marked.  The  answer  of  the  Lord  to  the  question 
asked  begins  with  the  fourth  verse.  Up  to  the  forty- 
fourth  verse  we  have  the  first  part  of  His  predictions. 
Beginning  with  the  forty-fifth  verse,  He  changes  His 
mode  of  speaking.  No  longer  direct  predictions,  but  He 
speaks  again  in  parables.  These  are  three:  I.  The  para- 
ble of  the  faithful  and  evil  servant.  2.  The  parable  of  the 
five  wise  and  five  foolish  virgins.  3.  The  parable  of  the 
man  traveling  into  a  far  country  and  delivering  unto  his 
servants  his  goods.  In  one  of  these  parables  we  find 
again  the  phrase  so  peculiar  to  the  Gospel  of  Matthew 
"the  kingdom  of  the  heavens."  These  parables  end  with 
the  thirtieth  verse.  In  the  verses  which  follow  the  Lord 
no  longer  speaks  in  parables.  It  is  true  Matthew  xxv:3i 
to  46  is  often  called  a  parable,  but  it  is  not.  It  is  a  reve- 
lation the  King  gives  concerning  His  own  glorious  ap- 
pearing and  the  judgment  He  will  execute  in  that  day. 
We  have  therefore  a  three-fold  division  of  the  Olivet  dis- 
course. 

First  division  :  Chapter  xxiv  14-44.  Second  division  : 
Chapter  xxiv  145  to  chapter  xxv  :30.  Third  division : 
Chapter  xxv:3i-46. 

We  shall  look  at  these  divisions  first  of  all  to  find  out 
to  what  season  or  time  they  refer  and  after  we  have 
cleared  away  some  of  the  false  interpretations  and  mis- 
conceptions, we  hope  to  study  each  division  in  detail. 

In  reading  over  the  first  part  of  the  discourse  of  our 
Lord  we  find  that  it  relates  to  disciples,  which  of  neces- 
sity must  be  Jewish.  In  this  part  the  Lord  speaks  of  the 
ending  of  the  age,  the  time  of  distress  which  is  to  come, 
the  great  tribulation  and  a  climax  is  reached  in  this  di- 
vision, when  the  Lord  speaks  of  His  coming  again  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory.     This  is 


x67 

to  take  place  immediately  after  the  days  of  that  tribula- 
tion. 

The  most  widespread  interpretation  of  this  part  of  the 
discourse  is  that  it  all  was  fulfilled  in  the  past.  The  great 
tribulation  is  a  thing  of  the  past  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  came  again  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  This 
is  the  foolish,  spiritualizing  method,  which  does  such 
violence  to  the  Word  of  God.  These  interpreters  are 
given  to  the  wildest  and  most  fanciful  imaginations  to 
prove  their  assertions.  Quite  often  they  make  use  of  the 
writings  of  Josephus  instead  of  God's  Word.  According 
to  them  the  year  70  was  the  year  in  which  "the  Son  of 
Man  came  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  great  power  and 
glory."  In  a  recent  volume  published  in  defense  of  this  \  / 
theory,  which  is  unknown  in  primitive  Christianity,  the 
writer  tries  to  get  over  the  difficulties  by  saying  the  fol- 
lowing: "But  who  can  say  what  other  sights  appeared 
at  the  final  moment  of  the  catastrophe?  (The  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  by  Titus.)  The  'Coming'  was  like  a  light- 
ning flash,  not  abiding  for  days  like  the  glory  on  Sinai. 
The  sight  of  the  Glory  of  Jehovah  was  like  devouring  fire 
on  the  top  of  the  mountains  to  the  eyes  of  the  sons  of 
Israel;  and  that  glory  was  a  real  presence,  a  veritable 
parousia,  for  Jehovah  came  down  upon  Mount  Sinai. 
And  yet  in  that  Sinaitic  parousia  the  Israelites  saw  no 
form  or  shape  of  the  divine  person.  Whether  those  who 
saw  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  which  appeared  in  heaven 
immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  saw  the 
person  and  form  of  the  Son  of  Man  Himself,  or  only  some 
symbol  of  His  presence,  must  remain  a  mystery."  This\ 
interpretation,  which  looks  upon  verses  4-44  fulfilled  in 
the  past  at  the  time  when  Titus  besieged  Jerusalem,  has 
its  origin  in  a  deplorable  ignorance  of  God's  dispen- 
sational   dealings   with   the   Jews   and   the   Gentiles.      It 


i68 

leaves  nothing  for  the  Jewish  nation  in  the  future.  It 
would  take  us  too  long  to  show  the  impossibility  that  the 
Lord  meant  by  these  predictions  the  events  which  tran- 
spired between  the  time  of  His  resurrection  and  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  in  the  year  70.  But  had  the  Lord 
nothing  to  say  in  this  discourse  about  the  great  judg- 
ment, which  befell  Jerusalem.  He  certainly  gave  a  reve- 
lation concerning  it  as  well  as  warnings.  But  the  record 
of  this  prediction  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  under  Titus  is 
not  at  all  given  in  Matthew  twenty-four,  but  we  find  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  has  put  that  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke. 
In  Luke  xxi  120-23  we  have  the  words  which  predict  the 
I  siege  and  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  the  year  70.  The  predic- 
tion is,  that  after  that  catastrophe  has  taken  place  and 
they  have  fallen  by  the  edge  of  the  sword  and  are  led 
away  captives,  that  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  by 
the  Gentiles  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  fulfilled. 
This  happened  after  the  destruction  of  the  City  and  Jerusa- 
lem is  still  trodden  down,  because  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles have  not  yet  run  out.  But  now  turning  to  the  words 
in  Matthew  Ave  find  an  entirely  different  result  from  the 
manifestation  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  Glory  and  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  (that  which  postmillennialism  claims  to 
be  identical  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem).  There 
is  not  a  word  mentioned  of  their  being  scattered  among 
the  nations,  but  the  very  opposite  is  said  "they  shall 
gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds  from  one 
end  of  heaven  to  the  other/5  The  predictions  in  Mat- 
thew xxiv  4-44  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  40 
years  which  preceded  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  nor 
with  that  event  in  the  year  70.  That  they  refer  to  Judea 
and  Jerusalem,  that  the  predictions  concern  Jewish  dis- 
ciples and  that  they  describe  scenes  of  distress  and  tribu- 
lation to  be  enacted  in  the  land  of  Israel  is  quite  true. 


169 

Another  mode  of  explaining  these  first  predictions  of 
the  Olivet  discourse  is,  to  apply  them  to  this  Christian 
age  in  which  we  live.  This  is  generally  done  by  those 
who  have  the  correct  Scriptural  belief  in  the  second  com- 
ing of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  reject  the  spiritualiz- 
ing teaching  of  postmillennialism  and  hold  that  there  will 
be  a  future  great  tribulation,  which  will  close  with  the 
visible  and  glorious  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  Man  out 
of  heaven.  They  tell  us  that  the  Lord  describes  this  en- 
tire Christian  age  and  especially  the  closing  of  it,  the  end. 
Then  they  maintain  that  the  church  is  to  remain  on  the 
earth  in  this  end  of  the  age  and  to  pass  through  the  great 
tribulation,  and  therefore  the  exhortations  contained  in 
this  chapter  are  meant  for  Christian  believers  living  in 
the  end  of  the  age.  This  wrong  interpretation  has  con- 
fused not  a  few  of  God's  people.  Let  one  get  clear  on 
two  important  teachings  of  the  word  and  deliverance 
from  this  false  interpretation  of  this  part  of  our  Lord's 
discourse  will  speedily  follow.  We  mean  the  teaching 
of  the  Scriptures  of  what  the  church  is,  her  calling  an/1 
her  destiny  And  in  the  second  place  the  teaching  of  the 
prophetic  word,  that  the  Lord  will  call  a  believing  Jewish 
remnant,  which  will  suffer  and  witness  at  the  end  of  the 
age.  If  a  person,  be  he  a  teacher  or  not,  is  ignorant  of 
either  one  of  these,  he  must  be  confused  in  his  concep- 
tion of  the  first  part  of  Matthew  xxiv. 

Furthermore  it  is  to  be  said  that  the  disciples  knew 
absolutely  nothing  of  a  Christian  age.  Such  an  age  could 
not  even  begin,  when  they  asked  the  question  about  the 
end  of  the  age.  They  did  not  mean  a  Christian  age,  but 
their  Jewish  age.  All  through  these  forty  verses  every- 
thing is  of  Jewish  character.  The  warning  is  against 
false  Christs  and  false  prophets  ;  the  warning  given  to 
church  is  against  false  spirits.    The  condition  of  salvation 


1^6 

that  one  must  endure  to  the  end  is  nowhere  given  to  the 
Christian  heliever,  who  is  saved  and  safe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  It  has  an  entirely  different  meaning  here. 
Again  the  prayer  that  the  flight  should  not  take  place 
on  the  Sabbath  day  is  Jewish,  for  the  Christian  believer 
has  no  Sabbath  day,  but  the  Lord's  day.  The  reference 
to  Daniel  and  the  great  tribulation,  which  never  concerns 
the  church,  but  Israel,  shows  us  that  we  are  not  on  Chris- 
tian, but  Jewish  ground.  The  preaching  which  is  men- 
tioned is  that  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  but  that 
Gospel  is  not  now  preached,  for  we  preach  the  Gospel 
of  Grace.  When  we  turn  to  the  different  verses  we  shall 
go  carefully  over  this  theory  again  and  disprove  it  by 
what  is  written. 

There  remains  the  third  way  of  interpreting  these 
words  of  our  Lord,  it  is  to  look  upon  these  predictions 
.about  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age  as  being  still  future. 
•  This  is  the  right  and  only  key  to  understand  these  verses. 
The  first  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse  of  our  Lord  is  a 
prediction  of  how  the  Jewish  age  will  end.  The  dis- 
ciples only  knew  of  a  Jewish  age.  This  Jewish  age  has 
not  yet  ended;  it  has  been  interrupted.  A  careful  study 
of  the  great  prophecy  in  Daniel  ix  124-27  reveals  the  fact 
that  one  year-week,  the  seventieth,  has  not  yet  been  ful- 
filled. The  Christian  age,  in  which  God  visits  the  Gen- 
tiles  and  takes  out  a  people  for  His  name,  the  church,  is 
the  great  parenthesis,  which  has  come  in  between  the 
sixty-ninth  week  and  the  seventieth  week  of  Daniel.  As 
soon  as  the  purpose  of  God  is  fulfilled,  the  church  com- 
plete, the  Lord  will  resume  His  dealing  with  Israel  and 
the  seventieth  week  (seven  years)  will  end  the  Jewish 
age.  Before  that  end,  the  seventieth  week  can  come,  the 
church  must  be  complete  and  be  removed  from  these 
earthly  scenes,  according  to  the  divinely  revealed  destiny 


of  the  church.  The  church  complete  and  taken  up,  the 
end  of  the  age  will  follow  and  that  will  be  Jewish  and  as 
far  as  the  so-called  "christian  world"  is  concerned  one 
of  complete  apostasy.  Then  the  144,000  of  whom  we 
read  in  Rev.  vii  will  be  sealed  and  bear  their  witness. 
This  is  the  Jewish  remnant  and  the  exhortations  here 
concern  them.  No  doubt  when  the  time  comes  they  will 
find  great  comfort  here  in  the  words  of  our  Lord.  They 
will  preach  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  and  the  unfinished 
testimony,  of  which  we  read  in  Matthew  x,  will  be  fin- 
ished by  them.  Thus  the  disciples  the  Lord  addressed 
were  typical  of  similar  Jewish  disciples  living  after  the 
church  has  ceased  her  testimony.  A  striking  fact  is  that 
this  interpretation  can  be  verified  by  many  Scripture 
passages  from  the  Old  Testament.  The  teaching  of  a 
future  remnant  of  Jewish  believers,  suffering  and  witnes- 
sing for  God  during  the  great  tribulation,  is  very  pro- 
nounced in  the  Old  Testament  We  shall  have  occasion 
to  turn  to  some  of  these  Scripture  references  when  we 
come  to  the  different  verses.  The  Old  Testament  pre- 
dicts a  siege  of  Jerusalem  which  has  not  yet  been.  The 
reader  in  turning  to  Zechariah  xiv  will  find  a  full  descrip- 
tion of  what  awaits  Jerusalem  and  a  faithful  remnant  in 
the  end  time.  Though  Jerusalem  has  had  so  many  sieges 
in  the  past  there  is  not  one  which  could  be  said  to  be  a 
fulfilment  of  Zechariah  xiv.  The  Lord  Himself  appears; 
for  the  deliverance  of  His  people,  His  feet  standing  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  Matthew  xxiv  14-44  refers  to  this, 
and  His  coming  and  all  His  saints  with  Him  in  Zech- 
ariah corresponds  to  "the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory." 

In  the  second  part  of  this  discourse,  chapter  xxiv  145- 
xxv  130,  we  find  that  the  Lord  speaks  in  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent way.    He  mentions  no  longer  the  tribulation,  nor 


IJ2 

the  Sabbath  of  Judea.  He  speaks  again  in  parables. 
These  parables,  each  one  having  for  its  central  thought, 
His  coming  again,  relate  not  to  the  Christian  church  as 
some  have  expressed  it,  but  rather  to  the  Christian  pro- 
fession. We  notice  the  true  and  the  false  throughout. 
A  faithful  servant  and  an  evil  servant;  wise  virgins  and 
foolish  virgins ;  servants  who  use  their  talents  and  one 
who  does  not.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  revelation  of  the 
judgement  between  the  true  and  the  false. 

The  third  part,  chapter  xxv  131-40,  is  not  a  revelation 
concerning  the  universal  judgment;  no  such  judgment  is 
ever  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  The  Lord  describes  the 
judgment  of  nations  which  takes  place  when  he  sits  upon 
the  throne  of  His  glory. 

The  first  part  of  the  Olivet  Discourse,  verses  4-44,  is 
now  before  us.  At  the  close  of  the  previous  chapter  we 
learn  that  the  King  after  His  loving  outburst  over  Jerusa- 
lem had  made  the  declaration,  "Behold  your  house  is  left 
unto  you  desolate"  This  prophecy  is  fulfilled  through- 
out this  present  age.  In  the  beginning  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  chapter  we  read  that  the  Lord  left  the  temple. 
"And  Jesus  went  out,  and  departed  from  the  temple; 
and  His  disciples  came  to  show  Him  the  buildings  of  the 
temple."  There  is  a  strongly  marked  correspondency 
between  the  end  of  the  twelfth  chapter  and  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  and  the  close  of  the  twenty-third  and 
the  beginning  of  the  twenty-fourth.  At  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  chapter  the  Lord  by  His  symbolical  action  in  re- 
fusing to  see  His  mother  and  brethren,  declared  His  re- 
lationship with  His  own  to  whom  He  had  come,  and  who 
received  Him  not,  broken  ;  at  the  close  of  the  twenty- 
third  there  is  a  fuller  break  with  the  nation,  the  nation  for 
whom  He  came  to  die.  In  Matthew  xiii  it  is  recorded 
that  on  the  same  day  Jesus  went  out  of  the  house,  and 


sat  by  the  seaside,  giving  there  His  parables  concerning 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  In  the  twenty-fourth  He 
also  goes  out  and  departs,  to  give  soon  after  the  great 
Olivet  discourse.  While  His  parables,  the  mysteries  of 
the  kingdom,  relate  to  this  present  age  and  the  end  of 
the  age,  in  a  general  way,  in  the  first  part  of  the  Olivet 
discourse,  He  makes  known  the  details  of  that  ending 
of  the  age,  of  which  He  spoke  repeatedly  in  the  thirteenth 
of  Matthew. 

In  leaving  the  temple  and  going  towards  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  the  Lord  had  to  cross  over  the  brook  Cedron, 
and  in  ascending  the  mountain,  they  must  have  had  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  temple  buildings.  These  build- 
ings were  of  the  most  massive  construction,  some  of 
them  still  in  process  of  erection.  An  enormous  wall  en- 
circled the  whole  temple  area ;  some  of  the  stones  used 
in  that  wall  were  23  and  24  feet  in  length.  It  must  have 
been  a  wonderful  sight  for  human  eyes  to  behold.  Not 
a  word  had  come  from  the  disciples'  lips  during  the 
events  recorded  in  the  twenty-second  and  twenty-third 
chapters.  They  had  heard  His  answers  to  the  tempting- 
Pharisees,  and  the  pronunciation  upon  them.  They 
listened  to  His  loving  outburst  over  Jerusalem  and  heard 
His  prediction  of  the  desolation  of  their  house.  But  now 
they  call  His  attention  to  the  buildings  of  the  temple,  to 
the  great  sight  before  them.  "And  Jesus  said  unto  them, 
see  ye  not  all  these  things?  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There 
shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another,  that  shall 
not  be  thrown  down."  What  a  solemn  prediction  this 
was !  How  it  must  have  impressed  these  Jewish  men, 
His  disciples,  whose  hearts  clung  to  the  temple  and  its 
wonderful  buildings.  These  mighty  stones,  so  solidly 
put  together,  were  to  be  rent  asunder,  not  one  remain- 
ing upon  the  other.     Only  the  Lord  could  make  such  a 


174 

prediction.  Here  then  is  a  prediction  which  refers  to  the 
destruction  of  the  temple  in  the  great  catastrophe  which 
came  upon  Jerusalem  in  the  year  70.  It  is,  as  stated  be- 
fore, fully  given  by  our  Lord  in  Luke  xxi  120-24 :  What 
should  happen  to  the  rebellious  city,  to  the  murderers, 
the  Lord  had  revealed  in  the  parable  of  the  marriage 
feast,  when  He  said :  "But  when  the  king  heard  it  he 
was  wroth ;  and  he  sent  forth  his  armies,  and  destroyed 
those  murderers,  and  burned  their  city." 

"And  as  He  was  sitting  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  the 
disciples  came  to  Him  privately,  saying,  Tell  us,  when 
shall  these  things  be,  and  what  is  the  sign  of  Thy  Com- 
ing and  the  completion  of  the  age?" 

The  question  asked  by  the  disciples  is  threefold.  When 
shall  these  things  be?  The  sign  of  Thy  Coming?  The 
completion  or  consummation  of  the  age?  It  is  of  great 
importance  to  see  that  the  record  of  the  discourse,  as 
given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  passes  over  the  answer  to  the 
first  question,  "When  shall  these  things  be?"  This  is 
evident  by  the  fact  that  the  Lord  says  not  a  word  in  the 
\  discourse  of  Jerusalem  or  the  destruction  of  the  temple, 
and  as  stated  in  our  introduction  to  this  chapter,  while 
in  Luke  we  hear  that  Jerusalem  is  to  be  besieged  by 
armies,  and  the  inhabitants  are  seen  falling  by  the  edge 
of  the  sword  and  led  away  captive  into  all  the  nations 
and  Jerusalem  trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles;  in  Matthew 
xxiv  we  do  not  find  a  word  of  all  this  at  all.  Indeed  we 
read  of  great  distress,  which  is  to  be  in  Judea,  but  noth- 
ing whatever  of  them  being  led  away  captive,  or  Jerusa- 
lem to  be  trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles.  Instead  of  a 
scattering  of  the  elect  people  at  the  close  of  the  great 
tribulation,  we  have  a  gathering  of  the  elect.  The  word 
in  the  passage  (xxiv  131),  that  is  the  word  "elect"  refers 
to  the  literal  Israel, 


VS 

Turning  to  the  next  two  questions,  "What  is  the  sign 
of  Thy  coming  and  the  completion  of  the  age?"  it  is  to 
be  said  that  undoubtedly  in  the  minds  of  the  disciples 
this  question  was  one.  He  had  repeatedly  spoken  about  ) 
His  return.  As  true  Jews  they  expected,  and  that  with 
perfect  right,  the  establishment  of  the  messianic  kingdom 
by  the  Messiah.  They  had  seen  how  He,  in  whom  they 
had  believed,  and  the  kingdom  He  offered,  had  been  re- 
jected. All,  of  necessity,  must  have  been  very  misty 
before  their  view ;  but  they  take  heart  and  ask  Him 
about  the  sign  of  His  coining,  the  coming  He  had  men- 
tioned  before.  It  is  evident  that  the  coming  is  His  com- 
ing in  power  and  glory  for  the  establishment  of  the  king- 
dom  promised  to  Israel  in  the  Old  Testament.  This  com- 
ing is  His  visible  and  glorious  return  to  the  earth  "in 
like  manner  as  He  went  up  into  heaven" ;  it  takes  place 
in  the  land  and  His  feet  will  stand  on  the  mount  of  Olives. 
The  synoptic  Gospels  know  of  no  other  coming  of  the 
Lord  than  His  visible  return  to  Jerusalem ;  connected 
with  this  return  we  find  always  besides  blessings,  judg- 
ment. Entirely  different  is  His  coming  for  His  Saints 
who  compose  the  Church.  This  coming  is  revealed 
through  the  Apostle  Paul  in  I  Thessalonians,  the  fourth 
chapter.  There  we  read  that  the  Lord  will  descend  into 
the  air,  not  to  the  earth.  The  dead  in  Christ  will  be 
raised  and  the  living  saints  be  caught  up,  together  with 
them,  in  clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  and  to  be  for- 
ever with  the  Lord.  In  John  xiv  the  Lord  gives  a  little 
word  which  may  be  taken  to  indicate  that  coming  for 
His  own,  though  the  manner  is  not  made  known.  It  is 
that  word  of  comfort  to  His  own.  "I  will  come  again  and 
receive  you  unto  myself."  It  is  strange  that  believers  in 
the  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  fail  to  see  the 
strongly  marked  difference  between  His  visible  and  glori- 


176 

ous  return,  His  coming  in  power  and  great  Glory,  taking 
place  in  the  land  of  Israel  and  His  coming  for  His  Church, 
as  revealed  exclusively  through  the  great  Apostle.  It  is 
not  strange  that  where  this  distinction  is  given  up  con- 
fusion and  error  result. 

Then  they  asked  about  the  completion  or  consumma- 
tion of  the  age  The  authorized  version  simply  has  it 
"the  end  of  the  world."  That  is  a  translation  which  is 
responsible  for  much  wrong  teaching.  The  end  of  the 
world  as  generally  understood  in  Christendom  is  not  at 
all  in  view  here.  It  is  the  consummation,  the  winding 
up  of  the  age,  the  aion.  As  we  have  shown  this  age  could 
not  be  the  "Christian  age,"  but  it  is  the  ending  of  the 
Jewish  age,  which  is  still  future.  Such  an  age  ending 
predicts  the  entire  Old  Testament  prophetic  World. 

There  we  find  numerous  predictions  of  a  great  coming 
day,  the  day  of  the  Lord,  in  which  Jehovah  is  visibly  seen 
in  His  Glory  and  majesty,  coming  forth  to  deliver  His 
persecuted  and  downtrodden  earthly  people,  who  wait 
for  Him  and  to  judge  the  nations  likewise.  According 
to  Old  Testament  prophecy  this  day  of  the  Lord's  visible 
and  glorious  manifestation  is  preceded  by  a  time  of  great 
trouble  and  distress.  The  center  of  the  tribulation  is 
Jerusalem,  and  when  the  height  of  the  tribulation  is 
reached,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  are  shaken  and  Jeho- 
vah appears.  Furthermore  it  is  seen  that  there  is  a  be- 
lieving and  suffering  remnant  of  Jews  passing  through 
that  time  of  trouble,  who  are  faithful  in  the  midst  of 
universal  apostasy,  wickedness  and  worship  of  the  false 
king,  who  is  likewise  described  in  the  Prophets.  Their 
prayers  and  calls  upon  God  are  prophetically  recorded 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  as  well  as  their  deliverance  by  the 
manifestation  of  Jehovah.  Now  all  this  has  never  been 
fulfilled.      That   great   day    so   often    spoken    of  by   the 


,177 

Prophets,  the  day  of  the  Lord,  has  not  yet  come ;  it  is 
still  future.  So  is  the  time  of  distress,  which  is  called 
"the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble,"  and  therefore  the  suffering 
of  a  Jewish  remnant,  which  is  not  identified  with  the 
church  is  likewise  future.  When  the  Lord  speaks  in 
Matthew  xxiv  about  the  consummation  of  the  age  and 
the  signs  of  His  coming,  He  gives  altogether  that  which 
is  revealed  in  the  Old  Testament  and  which  has  not  been 
fulfilled  up  to  the  present  time.  The  purpose  of  God  in 
this  present  Christian  age  is  to  take  out  from  among  the 
Gentiles  a  people  for  His  Name.  This  taken  out  people 
is  the  Church.  As  long  as  this  calling  out  through  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  continues  and  new  members  are 
added  to  the  Body  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (the  church), 
the  predicted  end  of  the  age  does  not  come.  Besides 
having  a  description  of  the  end  of  the  age,  of  which  our 
Lord  speaks  here,  in  the  Old  Testament  we  have  also  one 
in  the  Book  of  Revelation.  From  the  sixth  chapter  on 
to  the  nineteenth  we  find  another  record  of  the  future 
age-ending.  In  studying  the  account  our  Lord  gives  here 
in  Matthew  we  must  compare  Old  Testament  prophecy 
and  the  visions  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  with  what  the 
Lord  saith  in  His  discourse.  If  our  interpretation  is  the 
right  one  there  must  be  perfect  harmony  between  these 
three:  Old  Testament  Prophecy:  Matthew  xxiv  ^-44,  and 
Revelation  vi-xix. 

And  now  we  turn  to  the  text  and  give  the  first  section 
of  the  discourse.  "And  Jesus  answering  said  to  them, 
See  that  no  one  mislead  you.  For  many  shall  come  in 
my  name,  saying,  I  am  the  Christ,  and  they  shall  mislead 
many.  But  ye  will  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars. 
See  that  ye  be  not  disturbed  ;  for  all  these  things  must 
take  place,  but  it  is  not  yet  the  end.  For  nation  shall 
rise  up  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom, 


178 

and  there  shall  be  famines  and  pestilences,  and  earth- 
quakes in  divers  places.  But  all  these  are  the  beginning 
of  the  throes.  Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up  to  tribula- 
tion, and  shall  kill  you  and  ye  will  be  hated  of  all  the 
nations  for  my  name's  sake.  And  then  will  many  be  of- 
fended, and  will  deliver  one  another  up,  and  hate  one 
another;  and  many  false  prophets  shall  arise  and  shall 
mislead  many;  and  because  lawlessness  shall  prevail,  the 
love  of  the  most  shall  grow  cold ;  but  he  that  endureth 
to  the  end,  he  shall  be  saved.  And  these  glad  tidings  of  the 
kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  habitable  earth 
for  a  witness  to  all  the  nations,  and  then  shall  the  end 
come"    (verses  4-14). 

These  are  the  opening  words  of  the  Lord,  which  de- 
scribe the  age  ending.  In  a  secondary  and  general  way 
they  likewise  describe,  no  doubt,  the  characteristics  of 
the  times  during  which  the  Lord  is  not  on  the  earth. 
Looked  upon  in  this  light  what  an  argument  they  form 
against  the  modern  optimistic  dreams  of  the  professing 
church !  Neither  the  Lord,  nor  the  Spirit  in  giving  the 
Epistles  of  the  New  Testament  have  a  single  word  to 
say  that  this  present  age  and  the  world  is  to  be  getting 
better  and  that  the  end  will  be  righteousness  and  peace. 
The  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  is  wholly  on  the  other 
side.  Wars  there  have  been  all  along  as  well  as  rumors 
of  wars.  Famines,  pestilences  and  earthquakes  have 
again  and  again  swept  over  this  globe,  as  well  as  the 
persecution  of  such  who  are  the  Lord's.  All  this  is  true 
in  a  general  way.  But  the  Lord  describes  not  the  age 
as  such,  but  shows  what  will  be  in  the  end.  The  words 
we  have  before  us  refer  us  to  the  beginning  of  that  end, 
while  in  the  last  verse  quoted,  the  fourteenth,  the  Lord 
saith  "then  shall  come  the  end. "  What  follows  the  four- 
teenth verse  then  refers  directly  to  the  end.     The  last 


179 

week  of  Daniel,  the  seventieth,  is  marked  off  in  two 
halves,  each  having  three  and  a  half  years.  The  words 
here  before  us  up  to  the  fourteenth  verse  refer  to  the 
first  half  of  the  last  week,  while  the  fifteenth  verse  and 
the  verses  which  follow  bring  us  to  the  middle  of  that 
week. 

Arerses  4-14  then  contain  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord 
relating  to  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age, 
while  with  the  15th  verse  the  end  itself  in  its  fearful  great 
tribulation  and  "the  abomination  of  desolation"  is  de- 
scribed. The  whole  period  is  the  last  week  of  Daniel's 
great  prophecy,  a  prophetic  week,  consisting  of  seven 
years,  which  cannot  begin  as  long  as  the  church  is  on 
the  earth.  The  first  part  of  it  is  now  before  us.  The 
Lord  saith  in  His  answer  to  the  question  concerning  the 
sign  of  His  coming  and  the  end  of  the  age,  that  these 
things  He  mentions  first  are  "the  beginning  of  throes" 
(verse  8). 

And  now  let  us  look  at  the  predictions.  We  find  them 
in  the  following  order: 

1.  Many  coming,  saying,  I  am  the  Christ  and  succeed- 
ing in  misleading  many. 

2.  Wars,  rumors  of  wars.  Nation  lifting  up  sword 
against  nation.   Kingdom  against  kingdom. 

3.  Famines  and  pestilences  and  earthquakes. 

4.  Many  witnesses  to  be  killed  and  hated  by  all  na- 
tions.    False  prophets  and  lawlessness  prevailing. 

5.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  before 
the  end  is  reached. 

These  are  the  startling  prophecies  of  our  Lord,  soon 
to  be  followed  by  other  predictions  of  what  shall  be  be- 
fore He  returns  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  immediately 
after  the  tribulation  of  those  days.  The  disciples,  all 
Jews,  no  doubt  well  versed  in  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 


i8o 

tures,  must  have  had  considerable  knowledge  of  such 
awful  events  as  described  by  the  Lord,  for  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy  predicts  precisely  such  troubles  preceding 
the  visible  manifestation  of  Jehovah  out  of  the  opened 
heavens,  the  beginning  of  the  restoration  of  His  earthly 
people  and  the  blessings  of  the  coming  age.  The  follow- 
ing passages  are  but  a  few  of  those  which  might  be 
quoted:  Joel  iin-17;  Hosea  v:i4;  Jer.  xxx  4-9 ;  Ezekiel 
xxi:27;  Daniel  xii:i;  Micah  viin-7;  Hab.  iii:i6.  It  is 
also  true  that  Jewish  tradition  maintained  in  fullest 
harmony  with  these  teachings  that  the  days  preceding 
the  glorious  coming  of  the  Messiah  are  to  be  days  of  woe 
and  sorrow.  One  of  these  ancient  traditions  is  so  strik- 
ing that  we  quote  it. 

Rabbi  Jochunan  says :  "Seven  years  of  trouble  come 
before  Messiah  comes.  The  first  year  before  the  Son 
of  David  comes  the  prophecy  of  Amos  (chap,  iv  :j)  will 
be  fulfilled.  In  the  second  year  of  tribulation  there  will 
be  six  months  of  famine.  In  the  third  year  there  will  be 
great  famine.  Many  men,  women  and  children  will  die 
and  the  pious  will  be  few.  The  law  and  the  prophets 
will  be  forgotten  by  Israel.  The  last  years  will  bring 
signs  in  heaven  and  wars  and  at  the  end  of  the  seventh 
year  the  Son  of  David  will  come."  Similar  statements 
could  be  easily  quoted  from  the  Talmudical  writings. 

All  that  which  the  above  Old  Testament  passages  pre- 
dict, a  time  of  trouble,  before  an  age  of  blessing  begins 
and  nations  learn  war  no  more,  is  still  a  matter  of  the 
future,  and  so  are  the  predictions  our  Lord  makes  here. 
The  disciples  to  whom  He  gives  these  words  and  warn- 
ings are  typical  representatives  of  disciples,  who  will 
live  when  that  end  comes ;  they  will  be  Jewish  disciples. 
When  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  before  His  ascension, 
they  asked  Him  their  last  question;    "Lord,  is  it  at  this 


i8i 

time  that  Thou  restorest  the  Kingdom  to  Israel  ?"  He 
answered:  "It  is  not  yours  to  know  times  or  seasons, 
which  the  Father  has  placed  in  His  own  authority"  (Acts 
1:6-7).  The  kingdom  will  be  restored  with  the  coming 
of  the  King.  It  was  not  revealed  when  it  was  to  be ;  all 
was  to  be  postponed.  They  passed  off  the  scene  When 
the  end  at  last  will  come  other  Jewish  disciples,  waiting 
for-  the  kingdom  to  be  restored  to  Israel,  will  witness  and 
suffer,  and  they  will  turn  to  these  words  of  our  Lord  and 
find  comfort  and  instruction  in  them. 

And  now  there  is  something  still  more  significant.  Not 
alone  does  Old  Testament  prophecy  predict  distress  for 
the  ending  of  the  Jewish  age,  but  we  have  an  additional 
description  of  these  great  coming  events  in  the  last  book 
of  the  Bible,  the  only  book  of  prophecy  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  glorious  book,  "The  Revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

The  book  is  divinely  divided  into  three  parts  (chapter 
i  :g)  :  I.  The  things  seen ;  Christ  walking  in  the  midst 
of  the  candlesticks  (chapter  i).  II.  ,  The  things  which 
are.  The  present  church  age ;  a  wonderful  prophecy  con- 
cerning the  history  of  the  church  (chapters  ii  and  iii). 
III.  The  things  which  shall  be  after  these  (chapter  iv 
to  xxii).  Here  follows  all  which  will  take  place  after  the 
church  has  completed  her  history.  The  removal  of  the 
true  church  from  earth  to  heaven  is  promised  in  the  third 
chapter  of  Revelation  and  is  indicated  in  the  opening 
verses  of  the  fourth  chapter.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth 
chapters  the  church  is  seen  symbolically  in  the  twenty- 
four  elders,  seated,  clothed  and  crowned  in  the  presence 
of  the  throne.  Then  the  Lamb  takes  the  book  to  break 
its  seals.  That  which  is  revealed,  beginning  with  the 
sixth  chapter,  the  breaking  of  the  seals,  the  sounding  of 
the  seven  trumpets  and  the  outpouring  of  the  seven  vials 


I  &> 

together  with  the  great  events  described  from  that  chap- 
ter to  the  nineteenth,  is  nothing  else  but  a  more  detailed 
history  of  the  last  week  of  DanieL  It  is  here  in  the  last 
book  of  the  Bible  fully  revealed  what  judgment  will  be 
executed  upon  the  earth  during  that  period  of  distress 
and  what  great  tribulation  will  be  for  those  who  dwell 
upon  the  earth,  Jews  and  Gentiles  (never  the  true 
church).  It  is  an  intensely  interesting  fact  that  this  part 
of  Revelation  (chapters  vi-xix)  ever  points  us  back  to 
Old  Testament  prophecy.  Hundreds  of  passages  from 
all  the  prophets  can  easily  be  put  alongside  of  the  visions 
of  judgment,  tribulation  and  wrath  in  the  Apocalypse. 

The  point  which  we  wish  to  make  is  the  following: 
If  this  is  the  correct  interpretation,  if  Matthew  xxiv  14-14 
refers  to  the  beginning  of  that  coming  end  of  the  age  and 
if  Revelation  vi  refers  to  the  same  beginning  of  the  end 
and  that  which  follows  the  sixth  chapter  leads  us  on  into 
the  great  tribulation,  then  there  must  be  a  perfect  har- 
mony between  that  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse  contained 
in  Matthew  xxiv  and  the  part  of  Revelation  beginning 
with  the  sixth  chapter.     And  such  is  indeed  the  case. 

We  turn  briefly  to  the  sixth  chapter  of  Revelation. 
The  Lamb  opens  one  of  the  seals,  after  that  great  wor- 
ship scene  in  heaven  had  taken  place.  Then  we  read: 
"And  I  saw;  and  behold  a  white  horse,  and  he  that  sat 
upon  it  having  a  bow ;  and  a  crown  was  given  to  him, 
and  he  went  forth  conquering  and  that  he  might  con- 
quer." It  is  strange  that  so  many  expositors  have  ex- 
pounded this  to  be  the  Lord  Himself.  The  Lord  indeed 
is  described  in  this  book  as  coming  riding  a  white  horse; 
but  this  description  is  found  at  the  close  of  the  Revela- 
tion in  the  nineteenth  chapter.  The  rider  upon  the  white 
horse  under  the  first  seal  is  a  counterfeit.  He  is  a  false 
Christ,  who  goes  forth  to  conquer.     His  conquest  is  a 


t*3 

bloodless  one,  as  he  has  only  a  bow.  He  will  bring  about 
a  false  peace  among  the  nations,  which  for  a  time  may 
have  been  alarmed  by  the  supernatural  removal  of  the 
church.  The  second  rider  "takes  peace  from  the  earth," 
from  which  we  would  conclude  that  the  first  rider  upon 
the  white  horse  (white  the  emblem  of  peace)  had  es- 
tablished peace. 

And  as  we  turn  to  Matthew  xxiv  we  find  that  the  first 
thing  our  Lord  faith,  is  about  the  deceivers  who  will 
come  with  the  beginning  of  the  age  ending  saying:  "I 
am  Christ,"  and  succeeding  to  lead  away  many.  It  is 
true  throughout  this  age  impostors  came  among  the  Jews 
claiming  to  be  the  Messiah.  It  is  true  even  now  men 
rise  up  saying  they  are  some  great  one,  Elijah,  prophets 
or  even  Christ. 

All  these  are  but  faint  shadows  of  what  will  take  place  in 
that  soon  coming  end.  Indeed  the  increasing  delusions 
and  the  claims  of,  as  we  believe,  demon-possessed  men  and 
women,  are  strong  indications  that  the  end  is  very  near. 
Then  deceivers,  led  by  Satan,  possessed  by  his  demons, 
will  arise  and  among  them  there  will  be  a  mighty  leader 
going  forth  to  conquer,  saying,  "Peace,  peace,"  when 
there  is  no  peace. 

The  rider  upon  the  red  horse,  as  already  stated,  takes 
peace  from  the  earth.  The  second  seal  shows  him  com- 
ing forth  with  a  great  sword,  "that  they  should  slay  one 
and  another." 

And  the  very  next  thing  which  the  Lord  saith  in  Mat- 
thew xxiv  is,  "But  ye  will  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of 
wars  *  *  *  Nation  shall  lift  up  sword  against  nation 
and  kingdom  against  kingdom"  (verse  7).  Wars  there 
have  been  in  the  past;  this  earth  is  saturated  with  blood. 
But  there  will  be  a  time,  and  it  is  soon  coming,  when 
literally   nation   will   lift   up   sword   against   nation   and 


184 

kingdom  against  kingdom,  when  they  will  slay  each 
other.  Any  one  who  follows  present-day  history  will  see 
how  everything  is  ripening  for  just  such  a  universal  war- 
fare.  And  yet  secure,  sleeping  Christendom  is  dreaming 
of  peace,  world  wide  peace  and  times  of  prosperity! 

The  third  the  Lord  mentions  is  "there  shall  be  fam- 
ines." And  the  third  seal  reveals  a  rider  upon  a  black 
horse  and  he  has  a  balance  in  his  hand  and  what  he  saith 
indicates  clearly  that  he  brings  famines  (Rev.  vi  :5-6). 
The  fourth  rider  of  the  fourth  seal  is  upon  a  pale  horse. 
His  name  is  "Death."  He  takes  the  fourth  part  of  the 
earth  away.  This  corresponds  to  the  Lord's  announce- 
ment that  there  will  be  "pestilences  and  earthquakes  in 
divers  places."  Fearful  have  been  the  famines,  pesti- 
lences and  earthquakes  of  the  last  twenty-five  years.* 
But  these  are  insignificant  in  comparison  with  those  to 
which  our  Lord  refers  here,  the  mighty  events  which  tell 
all  the  earth  that  the  day  of  wrath  is  rapidly  approaching. 
Blessed  be  His  name,  who  delivereth  us  from  that  wrath 
to  come  that  "His  Beloved,"  "His  Dove,"  "His  Bride," 
the  church,  will  be  safe  within  when  these  awful  things 
come  to  pass. 

And  now  under  the  fifth  seal  we  do  not  behold  another 
rider,  but  instead  of  it  we  hear  the  souls  underneath  the 
altar,  that  had  been  slain  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  for 
the  testimony  which  they  gave,  crying  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  saying,  How  long?  (Rev.  viiQ-u.)  Who  are 
these?  Not  saints  of  the  church.  These  are  all  raised 
up  when  the  Lord  comes  into  the  air  (i  Thess.  ivii?) 


*Especially  great  has  been  the  loss  of  life  and  property  from  earth- 
quakes and  volcanic  disturbances  since  1900.  The  last,  the  destruc- 
tion of  San  Francisco,  has  been  one  of  the  most  terrible  of  the  recent 
catastrophes.    A  harbinger  indeed  of  the  nearness  of  the  far  greater 

earthquakes  to  come. 


i85 

and  are  caught  up  with  the  living  saints.  They  are  such 
of  the  remnant  of  Jews  who  began  to  give  their  witness 
for  the  Word  of  God  after  the  church  had  departed  and 
they  suffered  martyrdom  in  consequence  of  their  faithful 
testimony.  It  is  exactly  that  of  which  our  Lord  speaks 
next  in  His  discourse.  "Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up 
to  tribulation  and  shall  kill  you ;  ye  will  be  hated  of  all 
the  nations  for  my  name's  sake."  As  we  shall  show  later 
this  faithful  Jewish  remnant  will  go  throughout  the 
world  proclaiming  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  and  calling 


to  repentance. 

We  see  then  how  striking  the  agreement  is  between 
the  beginning  of  Matthew  xxiv  and  the  book  of  Revela- 
tion, the  seal  judgments.  The  interpretation  we  have 
undertaken  to  give  is  therefore  proven  to  be  correct. 

We  point  out  but  a  few  more  of  the  facts  mentioned 
by  our  Lord.  False  prophets  shall  arise  misleading 
many.  The  Jewish  age  has  false  prophets ;  the  Christian 
age  has  false  teachers.  "But  there  were  false  prophets 
also  among  the  people,  as  there  shall  be  also  among  you 
false  teachers,  who  shall  bring  in  by  the  bye  destructive 
heresies,  etc."  (2  Pet.  ii:i).  These  false  prophets  who 
come  in  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age  will  be  possessed  by 
evil  spirits.  Such  was  the  case  during  the  great  apostasy 
of  Israel  under  the  reign  of  Ahab.  The  Lord  permitted 
then  a  lying  spirit  to  take  possession  of  the  false  prophets 
as  revealed  by  the  prophet  Micaiah  (2  Chronicles  xviii  > 
18-22). 

"Lawlessness  shall  prevail;"  that  is,  complete  anarchy 
will  hold  sway.  This  too  is  clearly  seen  in  the  breaking 
of  the  sixth  seal  (Rev.  vi:i2-i7).  The  earthquake,  the 
darkened  sun,  the  blood-red  moon,  the  falling  stars,  the 
rolled  up  heavens  and  the  removal  of  mountains  and  is- 
lands are  all  great  symbols  of  startling  political  events, 


i86 

which  will  take  place  in  the  first  three  and  one-half 
years.  Government  and  authority  is  swept  away ;  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  powers  are  shaken ;  mountains  (the 
type  of  kingdoms)  are  moved  out  of  their  places  and 
as  a  consequence  of  this  awful  upheaval,  the  reign  of 
terror  and  anarchy,  worse  than  that  of  the  French  revo- 
lution and  the  Russian  revolution  of  to-day,  all  classes 
of  men,  the  kings,  the  wealthy,  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  bondman  and  the  free,  will  be  seized  with  terror. 
Well  has  a  recent  writer  said :  "The  scene  here  de- 
scribed is  an  awful  and  sublime  one.  The  symbols  em- 
ployed to  set  it  forth  are  the  powers  of  nature  convulsed. 
The  whole  fabric  of  civil  and  governmental  power  on 
earth  breaks  up.  Disorder  reigns  supreme.  It  is  not 
simply  the  collapse  of  this  or  that  government,  but  the 
total  subversion  of  all  governing  authority — both  su- 
preme and  dependent.  The  general  idea  which  the  met- 
aphors present  is  a  universal  overthrow  of  all  existing 
authority ;  a  revolutionary  crisis  of  such  magnitude  and 
character  that  kings  and  slaves  are  in  equal  terror.  The 
coming  crash  will  involve  in  one  general  catastrophe 
everything  on  earth  deemed  secure  and  strong.  A  vast 
civil  and  political  chaos  will  be  created.  What  an  aw- 
ful scene  to  contemplate!  a  world  without  a  magistrate! 
without  even  the  semblance  of  power !  without  govern- 
ment !  without  the  authority  of  repression !" 

This  is  the  sixth  seal,  and  it  is  precisely  what  the 
Lord  saith :  "Lawlessness  shall  prevail."  And  later  the 
lawless  One  will  take  the  lead.  He  comes  into  full  dis- 
play in  the  middle  of  the  week.  How  near,  how  very 
near  all  these  events  are,  even  at  our  doors,  is  seen  by 
the  increasing  unrest  of  all  nations,  the  manifestation 
of  the  spirit  of  anarchy  among  all  people.  Yet  there 
is   One   who   hindereth    (2  Thess.   ii).     The  Holy   Spirit 


1 87 

is  the  One  who  keeps  it  back  and  He  has  His  abode  in 
the  body  of  Christ,  the  church.  Only  after  the  church 
is  taken  into  glory  can  that  lawless  One  be  revealed. 
But  even  in  those  awful  days  the  mercy  of  God  lingers 
and  one  more  great  testimony  goes  forth ;  the  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom  will  yet  be  preached  in  a  very  short  time 
to  all  the  nations,  then  the  end  comes. 

"And  these  glad  tidings  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  the  whole  habitable  earth  for  a  witness  to 
all  nations,  and  then  shall  come  the  end"  (verse  14). 
This  verse  relates  exclusively  to  the  end  of  the  age,  that 
is  the  Jewish  age.  And  here  we  have  to  speak  of  all  of 
the  wrong  application  of  this  word  of  our  Lord. 

It  is  generally  looked  upon  as  a  condition  to  be  ful- 
filled before  the  Lord  can  come.  Post-millennialism,  be- 
lieving as  it  does,  without  any  authority  from  the  Word 
of  God,  in  the  conversion  of  the  world  before  the  Com- 
ing of  the  Lord,  makes  use  of  this  verse  to  uphold  its 
unscriptual  theory.  Then  there  are  others  who  believe 
in  the  premillennial  coming  of  Christ  who  misapply  this 
statement  of  our  Lord.  They  ever  speak  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  all  the  nations  as  a  necessary  condition 
before  the  Lord  can  come  for  the  church.  It  is  often 
pressed  in  this  way  in  missionary  meetings,  conven- 
tions as  an  incentive  to  giving,  that  unless  the  Gospel 
is  preached  to  all  nations,  the  Lord  cannot  come.  Now 
such  an  application  of  this  verse  is  certainly  wrong. 

It  is  true  that  the  Gospel  is  to  be  preached  in  the 
regions  beyond  and  that  by  this  preaching  a  people  is 
called  out  from  the  Gentiles,  a  people  for  His  name,  the 
church  ;  but  it  would  be  incorrect  to  say  that  in  order 
that  the  Lord  may  come  for  His  Church,  all  the  individ- 
uals of  all  the  nations  must  hear  the  Gospel.  Believers 
in  the  blessed  Hope  of  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  have  a 


i88 

deep  interest  in  foreign  missions,  unless  they  are  given 
to  extreme,  fanciful  or  unscriptural  notions.  This  is 
clearly  established  by  a  number  of  foreign  missionary 
enterprises  of  the  last  twenty-five  years,  which  have 
been  inaugurated  by  men  who  believe  in  the  premillen- 
nial  Coming  of  the  Lord  and  also  by  the  large  number 
of  missionaries  in  all  lands,  who  are  out  and  out  premil- 
Jennialists.  The  accusation  that  believing  in  the  im- 
minent Coming  of  the  Lord  paralyzes  missionary  efforts 
is  unjust  and  unfair.  It  stimulates  missionary  activity. 
The  believer  in  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  desires  the  Gos- 
pel to  be  preached  in  the  great,  wide  field  of  the  nations, 
that  the  church  may  be  completed  as  to  numbers.  How 
soon  this  may  be  none  can  tell. 

If  the  verse  before  us  contained  a  necessary  condi- 
tion before  the  Lord  can  come  to  receive  His  fellow 
heirs,  the  church,  in  Glory,  then  the  end  must  be  indefi- 
nitely postponed.  Other  difficulties  arise  if  this  were 
the  case. 

But  let  us  look  at  this  preaching  of  this  Gospel  as  in 
the  future  and  all  will  become  clear.  In  the  first  place 
must  we  remind  ourselves  that  it  is  at  the  end  of  the 
age  that  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Kingdom  are  to  be  her- 
alded through  the  earth.  The  end  of  which  the  Lord 
speaks,  the  termination  of  that  Jewish  age,  as  we  shall 
see  later  in  this  chapter,  will  be  the  visable  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Son  of  Man  in  power  and  in  glory  out  of  the 
opened  heavens.  The  glorified  church,  the  Lamb's  wife, 
comes  forth  with  Him  in  that  visible  manifestation. 

Let  us  then  have  this  fixed  first  of  all,  the  preaching 
of  which  the  Lord  speaks  is  a  future  witness  to  all  the 
nations,  and  that  witness  must  be  given  before  His  vis- 
ible manifestation  will  take  place. 

In  the  next  place  we  have  to  ascertain  what  witness 


i8g 

will  be  given.  It  will  be  the  proclamation  of  the  glad 
tidings,  or  Gospel,  of  the  Kingdom.  What  does  this 
mean?  Superficial  readers  of  the  Word  of  God  make 
no  difference  between  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  and 
the  Gospel  of  Grace.  Many  speak  of  the  preaching  of 
John  the  Baptist  and  the  Lord  and  His  disciples  in  the 
first  part  of  Matthew,  when  they  announced  "Repent, 
for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand,"  as  if  it  were 
the  same  thing  as  the  Gospel  of  Grace,  which  is  so  freely 
offered  after  the  death,  resurrection  and  ascension  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  a  difference  between  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  and  the  Gospel  of  Grace. 

W7hat  then  is  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom?  As  we 
learn  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  is  the  good  news  that  the  prom- 
ised Kingdom*  of  the  Old  Testament  was  about  to  be 
established  with  the  manifestation  of  the  King.  But 
the  nation  rejected  Him  and  rejected  the  offered  King- 
dom. Some  time  after  the  day  of  Pentecost  this  Gos- 
pel of  the  Kingdom  was  preached  to  the  nation.  It  was 
to  Jews  that  Peter  preached  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
It  is  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  when  Peter  declared 
unto  them  after  the  healing  of  the  lame  man,  he  being 
a  type  of  the  nation  (Acts  iiin),  "Repent  ye,  therefore, 
and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out, 
when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord ;  and  He  shall  send  Jesus  Christ,  which 
before  wras  preached  to  you ;  whom  the  heavens  must 
receive,  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things,  which 
God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  His  holy  prophets 
since  the  world  began"   (Acts  iii  119-20) .     This  was  the 


*Our  lecture  on  the  Kingdom  in  the  Old  Testament,  published  in 
tract  form,  will  give  more  complete  information  about  the  Kingdom. 


190 

good  news  of  the  Kingdom.  If  the  nation  had  then  re- 
pented and  accepted  the  renewed  offer,  the  Lord  would 
have  come  again  and  with  His  coming  the  restitution 
of  all  things  as  foretold  by  all  the  prophets.  This  resti- 
tution, of  course,  does  not  consist  in  the  resurrection  and 
restoration  of  the  wicked  dead,  as  an  unscriptural  resti- 
tutionism  claims,  but  in  the  glorious  things  of  the  earthly 
Kingdom  and  the  promised  blessings  to  Israel.  Soon 
the  nation  rejected  the  last  offer  in  the  stoning  of  Ste- 
phen. The  measure  was  full.  In  the  Old  Testament 
Jehovah  had  offered  Himself  to  them  as  their  King  and 
they  had  rejected  Him.  Then  He  came  manifested  in 
the  flesh  and  they  rejected  Him,  God  the  Son.  Then 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  Stephen's  testimony  was  likewise  re- 
jected. 

With  that  event  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom  ceased.  Another  Gospel  was  preached.  The 
Lord  gave  it  to  the  great  Apostle,  whom  He  called  Him- 
self, Paul.  And  Paul  calls  this  Gospel  "my  Gospel." 
It  is  the  Gospel  of  God's  free  Grace  to  all  who  believe,  the 
Gospel  of  the  Glory  of  God,  the  Gospel  of  a  risen  and 
glorified  Lord.  The  mystery  of  the  chuch  is  made 
known  to  Paul,  and  it  is  part  of  that  blessed  Gospel 
that  every  believing  sinner,  Jew  or  Gentile,  is  baptized 
by  the  one  Spirit  into  the  one  body  This  Baptism  took 
place  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  Gospel  of  Grace  de- 
clares that  all  who  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are 
quickened  together  with  Him,  raised  up  and  seated  with 
Him  in  the  Heavenly,  that  they  are  Sons  of  God  and 
Heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
This  then  is  the  Gospel  of  Grace.  This  wonderful  offer 
goes  out  now  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  that  the  Bride 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  be  gathered.  It  had  a 
definite  beginning,  it  will  have  a  definite  end.     When 


that  body,  the  church,  is  complete,  the  church  will  be 
removed  from  the  earth  in  the  manner  as  revealed  in 
I  Thess.  iv:i6-i7,  and  with  this  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Grace  will  come  to  an  end,  because  the  purpose 
for  which  God  had  this  Gospel  proclaimed  is  accom- 
plished. 

Now  during  the  time  that  the  Kingdom  was  preached 
to  be  at  hand  the  Gospel  of  Grace  was  not  heard,  and 
during  the  time  the  Gospel  of  Grace  is  preached  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  is  not  preached.  But  as  soon 
as  the  Gospel  of  Grace  has  fulfilled  its  mission  and  is 
no  longer  heard,  the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  will 
be  preached  again. 

As  soon  then  as  the  church  leaves  this  earthly  scene 
and  the  end  of  the  age  begins,  the  Gospel  of  Grace  will 
no  more  be  heard,  but  in  place  of  it,  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom  will  be  sounded  forth  once  more  to  all  the 
nations,  before  the  heavens,  silent  for  so  many,  many 
centuries,  will  be  opened  again  to  reveal  the  King,  who 
comes  to  execute  judgment  and  to  rule  the  earth  in  right- 
eousness. Under  the  solemn  signs  of  the  ending  Jewish 
age  it  will  be  proclaimed  world  wide,  "Fear  God  and 
give  Glory  to  Him,  for  the  hour  of  His  judgment  is  come 
and  worship  Him  that  made  heaven  and  the  earth  and 
the  sea  and  the  fountains  of  waters."  The  Kingdom  is 
at  hand  ;  repent ! 

And  who  will  be  the  preachers  of  this  last  witness,  the 
missionaries  who  reach  all  nations  with  this  final  mes- 
sage before  the  King  appears  in  judgment?  They  are  a 
believing  Israelitish  remnant.  God  in  His  wonderful 
grace  will  begin  a  work  among  His  earthly  people  Israel. 
The  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  His  abode,  as  long  as  the 
church  is  forming,  in  the  church,  will  have  accomplished 
His  mission  in  the  completed  body  and  will  no  longer 


192 

be  present  on  the  earth  as  He  is  now ;  but  He  will  still 
be  working  and  that  in  the  same  way  as  He  did  in  the 
Old  Testament,  He  will  come  upon  a  remnant  of  believ- 
ers from  the  long  blinded  nation  Israel.  These  will  take 
up  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  to 
all  the  nations,  and  no  doubt  special  power  will  rest  upon 
them  for  that  service.  How  well  this  people  is  fitted  to 
do  this,  needs  little  comment.  They  are  now  scattered 
among  all  the  nations.  They  understand  the  languages 
of  the  nations,  they  are  at  home  in  every  climate.  When 
the  church  is  no  longer  here,  God  in  His  mercy  will  turn 
to  His  own  people  again  and  the  blindness  of  a  company 
of  them  will  be  removed  and  the  Spirit  of  God  will  come 
upon  them.  We  believe  this  remnant  will  most  likely 
consist  of  such  Hebrews  who  are  at  this  time  still  hold- 
ing to  the  Messianic  hope  of  a  coming  deliverer,  who 
hold  fast  the  law  and  the  testimony,  who  firmly  believe 
in  the  prophecies  of  their  own  Scriptures.  Alas !  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  have  broken  with  the  faith  in  God's 
Word  and  God's  promises. 

Such  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of  Grace 
(Romans  xi)  will  be  called,  and  this  remnant  will  be 
used  as  the  great  herald  to  announce  to  all  the  nations 
the  great  coming  events.     What  preachers  they  will  be! 

And  now  before  we  look  at  the  purpose  of  this  preaching 
and  to  whom  they  will  go  and  what  their  sucess  will  be,  we 
have  to  follow  the  argument  laid  down  in  the  beginning 
of  the  exposition  of  this  chapter.  We  remind  the  reader 
that  we  claimed  that  inasmuch  as  these  predictions  of 
our  Lord  refer  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age,  that  we 
must  be  able  to  find  all  what  is  spoken  of  here  both  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  in  that  part  of  the  book  of  Revel- 
ation, which  treats  of  the  things  to  come,  after  the  his- 
tory of  the  church  is  finished  on  earth  (chapters  vi-xix). 


193 

We  have  found  already  the  remarkable  correspondency 
which  exists  between  the  predictions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment concerning  the  time  of  distress  of  the  end  of  the 
age,  the  predictions  of  our  Lord  and  the  seal  judgments 
of  Revelation  Is  there  a  similar  agreement  about  a  wit- 
nessing remnant  of  God's  earthly  people?  Has  the  Old 
Testament  anything  to  say  about  this?  Do  we  find  any- 
thing mentioned  about  such  a  remnant  in  the  book  of 
Revelation  ?  Both  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  the 
book  of  Revelation  give  us  most  interesting  light  on  this 
remnant,  the  testimony  they  will  bear,  the  suffering  and 
the  persecution  they  will  have  to  stand,  and  their  final 
deliverance. 

The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  predictions  and  descrip- 
tions of  this  remnant.  Indeed  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  understand  prophecy  relating  to  the  things  to  come  if 
one  does  not  reckon  with  that  remnant,  which  is  so  prom- 
inent in  the  pre-written  history  of  the  end  of  the  age. 
Especially  rich  is  the  book  of  Psalms.  The  great  pray- 
ers, cries  to  God  for  deliverance,  calls  to  God  to  destroy 
the  enemies,  are  all  prophetic  descriptions  of  how  a 
faithful  remnant  of  God's  earthly  people  will  go  through 
that  time  of  great  trouble  and  be  delivered  out  of  it.  In 
these  great  prayers  and  calls  upon  God  for  interference, 
the  ungodly  part  of  the  nation  as  well  as  the  Gentiles 
are  mentioned.  Showing  how  they  are  in  the  midst  of 
them  giving  their  faithful  testimony.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  show  all  the  passages  which  speak  of  this 
future  remnant  in  the  Old  Testament.  Almost  through- 
out every  one  of  the  prophets  do  we  find  this  remnant 
and  the  words  which  God  speaks  to  encourage  and  com- 
fort them. 

Turning  to  the  book  of  Revelation  we  find  a  very 
striking    confirmation   of   this    fact.      We    found   that   un- 


194 

der  the  sixth  seal  a  great  upheaval  took  place.  Anarchy 
is  let  lose  and  all  the  mighty  governments  of  the  earth 
are  shaken,  rebellion  spreads  worldwide.  Before  the 
seventh  seal  is  broken  by  the  Lord  we  read  of  some- 
thing else.  The  seventh  chapter  of  Revelation  is  a  par- 
enthesis. The  first  part  of  it  tells  us  that  then  in  the 
beginning  of  these  fearful  events,  a  company  of  144,000 
will  be  sealed.  Who  is  this  company?  It  is  a  most 
fanciful,  worse  than  that,  evil  interpretation,  which 
makes  of  the  144,000  a  company  of  Christian  believers. 
The  theory  of  a  "first-fruit"  rapture  has  no  scriptural 
foundation  whatever  and  it  aims  in  a  most  subtle  way  at 
God's  Grace,  giving  man  a  share,  by  his  attainments, 
experience,  suffering  and  other  things,  to  become 
worthy  to  enter  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  We  have 
listened  to  such  teaching  repeatedly  that  the  144,000 
of  Revelation  vii  are  a  company  of  "sanctified"  Chris- 
tians (as  if  there  were  sanctified  and  unsanctified  be- 
lievers). Companies  of  people  all  over  this  country 
claim  to  be  part  of  "the  elect  Bride,"  a  part  of  the  144,- 
000,  and  not  a  few  of  these  hold  extremely  fanatical 
views.  The  Word  of  God  makes  it  so  clear  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  believe  that  any  intelligent  person  could 
fail  to  see  who  these  144,000  are  The  Spirit  of  God 
tells  us  that  they  are  "of  all  the  tribes  of  the  children  of 
Israel."  Christian  believers  do  not  belong  to  the  twelve 
tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  furthermore,  if  these  144,000 
were  parts  of  the  church,  a  first-fruit,  the  previous  pert  of 
Revelation,  especially  chapters  ii-v,  would  be  most  difficult 
to  explain,  and  the  divinely  given  division  of  the  book  would 
be  wiped  out.  The  144,000  then  are  literal  Israelites  and 
these  constitute  the  remnant  of  God's  earthly  people, 
the  preachers  of  the  Kingdom  Gospel  during  the  great 
tribulation. 


195 

In  the  second  part  of  Revelation  vii  we  read  of  a 
countless  multitude  out  of  all  nations,  who  have  come 
out  of  the  great  tribulation  and  who  stand  before  the 
throne  of  God.  This  multitude  is  not  the  church,  be- 
cause the  church  does  not  come  "out  of  the  great  trib- 
ulation," nor  do  the  church  saints  stand  before  the 
throne,  but  they  are  seated  upon  thrones  in  the  presence 
of  the  throne  of  God  (Rev.  iv).  This  great  multitude 
are  those  who  heard  God's  last  witness  during  the  end 
of  the  age,  the  preaching  of  the  Kingdom  Gospel  and 
who  believed  the  message  and  were  yet  saved  and  we 
see  these  in  the  presence  of  the  throne  of  God,  their  mil- 
lennial position  and  blessing  in  the  earth.  The  multi- 
tude is  the  blessed  result  of  the  preaching  of  the  rem- 
nant of  Israel. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  stated  that  those  who  had  the 
Gospel  of  Grace  presented  unto  them  and  who  rejected 
God's  gracious  offer,  who  went  on  in  apostasy  will  not 
have  another  chance  to  accept  "the  Gospel  of  the  King- 
dom." Second  Thess.  ii:io-i2  reveals  the  fate  of  all  the 
Christ  and  Gospel  rejecting  professing  "Christian" 
masses.  But  the  nations  in  Africa,  China,  India,  the 
isles  of  the  sea  will  hear  and  accept  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom  and  gladly  receive  these  messengers  whom 
later  the  Lord  calls  "these  my  brethren"  (Matthew 
xxv  131,  etc).  Thus  during  the  very  end,  God's  Grace 
will  still  be  manifested  ere  that  great  and  terrible  day 
of  the  Lord  comes. 

The  next  verse  brings  us  into  the  middle  of  the  week, 
the  great  tribulation,  and  we  shall  have  to  turn  to  the 
prophet  Daniel  and  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Revelation 
to  establish  still  clearer  the  fact  that  our  Lord  has  in 
these  predictions  exclusive  reference  to  the  end  of  the 
Jewish  age. 


196 

We  have  learned  then  that  the  events  predicted  by 
our  Lord  up  to  the  fourteenth  verse  fall  into  the  begin- 
ning of  the  ending  of  the  Jewish  age,  the  seven  prophet- 
ic years;  with  the  fifteenth  verse  we  reach  the  middle 
of  this  period,  three  years  and  a  half  are  passed  and  the 
second  half  with  its  mighty  events  culminating  in  the 
personal  and  visible  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  Man 
out  of  heaven  is  now  described.  With  the  second  half 
of  these  seven  years,  the  last  1,260  days,  the  great  trib- 
ulation, the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble,  is  fully  developed. 
We  shall  find  as  we  advance  that  not  alone  the  interpre- 
tation we  have  laid  down  for  this  chapter  is  the  right 
one,  but  that  no  other  one  is  possible;  all  expositions, 
which  claim  a  fulfilment  of  these  words  of  our  Lord  in 
the  past,  or  which  apply  these  events  to  the  church  per- 
iod, must  be  rejected  as  incorrect  Let  us  read  the 
words  of  our  Lord  beginning  at  the  fifteenth  verse. 

"When  therefore  ye  shall  see  the  abomination  of  des- 
olation, which  is  spoken  of  through  Daniel  the  prophet, 
standing  in  what  is  a  holy  place  (he  that  reads  let  him 
understand)  ;  then  let  those  who  are  in  Judea  flee  to 
the  mountains ;  let  not  him  that  is  on  the  house  come 
down  to  take  the  things  out  of  his  house ;  and  let  not 
him  that  is  in  the  field  turn  back  to  take  his  garment. 
But  woe  to  those  that  are  with  child,  and  those  that  give 
suck  in  those  days.  But  pray  that  your  flight  may  not 
be  in  winter  time  nor  on  Sabbath ;  for  then  shall  there 
be  great  tribulation  such  as  has  not  been  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world  until  now  nor  ever  shall  be ;  and  if 
those  days  had  not  been  cut  short  no  flesh  had  been 
saved ;  but  on  account  of  the  elect  those  days  shall  be 
cut  short"  (verses  15-22). 

Our  Lord  gives  us  a  most  important  hint  on  what  He 
means  by  these  words,  by  mentioning  the  Prophet  Dan- 


w 

iel.  Then  furthermore,  the  Holy  Spirit  adds  through 
Matthew  a  word  of  exhortation,  which  calls  special  at- 
tention to  the  Lord's  reference  to  Daniel,  the  prophet. 
The  Holy  Spirit  saith,  "He  that  reads  let  him  under- 
stand"; or,  as  it  might  be  put,  "Consider  so  as  to  under- 
stand." It  will,  therefore,  not  do  for  us  to  hurry  over 
this  word  of  our  Lord,  to  which  the  Holy  Spirit  calls 
our  special  attention,  which  He  the  great  interpreter 
of  the  Word  of  God  wants  us  to  consider  and  to  under- 
stand fully. 

We  must,  therefore,  turn  first  of  all  to  the  Prophet 
Daniel.  Does  he  mention  anything  in  his  great  prophe- 
cies about  a  future  abomination  and  where  do  we  find 
these  passages?     He  does  in  three  places. 

"And  he  shall  confirm  a  covenant  with  the  many  for 
one  week,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause 
the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,  and  because  of 
the  protection  of  the  abominations  there  shall  be  a  des- 
olator,  even  until  that  the  consumption  and  what  is  de- 
termined shall  be  poured  out  upon  the  desolate"  (Dan- 
iel ix:27) . 

"And  forces  shall  stand  on  his  part,  and  they  shall 
profane  the  sanctuary,  the  fortress,  and  shall  take  away 
the  continual  sacrifice,  and  they  shall  place  the  abomina- 
tion that  maketh  desolate"  (xi:3i). 

"And  from  the  time  that  the  continual  sacrifice  is 
taken  away,  and  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate 
set  up,  there  shall  be  a  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety  days"  (xiini). 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Lord  refers  to  these 
three  passages  in  Daniel,  and  it  is  of  that  abomination 
mentioned  in  these  passages  of  which  He  speaks.  These 
three  verses  in  Daniel  refer  all  to  the  same  period  of 
time ;  this  period  is  three  years  and  a  half.  The  same 
space  of  time  is  mentioned  in  Daniel  vii  :2S.  "And  he 


198 

shall  speak  great  words  against  the  Most  High,  and 
shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think 
to  change  times  and  laws,  and  they  shall  be  given  into 
his  hands,  until  a  time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of 
time"  (which  makes  three  and  a  half).  Then  in  Dan- 
iel x:7  we  have  it  mentioned  again.  *  *  *  "It  shall 
be  for  a  time,  times  and  a  half,  and  when  he  shall  have 
accomplished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people, 
all  these  things  shall  be  finished."  When  later  in  the 
course  of  this  exposition  we  come  to  the  book  of  Revel- 
ation we  shall  discover  the  same  period  of  time  there. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  enter  fully  into  Daniel's  great 
prophecies.  To  do  this  would  lead  us  too  far  and  pro- 
long our  exposition.  The  most  important  passage  of 
the  three  we  have  quoted,  is  the  one  from  the  ninth 
chapter;  as  the  others  treat  of  the  same  period,  we  shall 
not  consider  these  (Dan.  xi :  31  and  xii:n)  at  all.  The 
ninth  chapter  in  that  prophetic  book  contains  the  pray- 
er of  Daniel  and  the  wonderful  answer  he  received.  He 
was  meditating  on  the  Word  of  the  Lord  as  it  came  to 
Jeremiah  the  prophet,  when  he  turned  to  the  Lord  in 
prayer.  This  seems  to  us  is  the  true  and  perfect  way  of 
turning  to  God  in  prayer.  First  communion  with  God 
through  the  written  Word,  His  revelation,  and  then 
to  seek  His  face.  He  was  occupied  in  his  prayer  with 
the  years  of  captivity.  The  man  Gabriel  appears,  he 
came  flying  swiftly  to  assure  him  that  he  was  greatly 
beloved  and  to  give  him  the  answer  to  his  prayer.  The 
answer  is  a  revelation  relating  to  seventy-year  weeks,- 
that  is  seven  times  seventy;  a  period  of  time  which  was 
to  come. 

We  take  it  for  granted  that  our  readers  are  delivered 
from  the  old,  superficial  and  erroneous  interpretation, 
which  looks  upon  Daniel  ix  124-27  as  having  been  com- 


199 

pletely  fulfilled  with  the  death  of  the  Messiah  and  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  under  Titus.  It  is  strange  that 
the  clear  division  of  these  seventy  weeks  has  been  so 
much  ignored.*  The  24th  verse  in  Daniel  ix  is  the  pro- 
phecy stated  in  a  general  way.  "Seventy  weeks  are  ap- 
portioned out  upon  thy  people  and  upon  thy  holy  city, 
to  close  the  transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins, 
and  to  make  expiation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  the 
righteousness  of  ages,  and  to  seal  the  vision  and  the  pro- 
phet, and  to  anoint  the  Holy  of  Holies."  Seventy  sev- 
ens, as  it  is  in  the  Hebrew,  make  490.  This  space  of 
time  is,  so  Gabriel  declared,  apportioned  out,  for  the 
people  of  Israel  and  Jerusalem,  and  at  the  close  of  it 
the  full  blessing  of  Israel  will  come  to  pass ;  the  right- 
eousness of  ages,  undoubtedly  refers  to  the  kingdom 
age,  the  millennium.  So  in  a  general  way  the  whole  pro- 
phecy of  seventy-year  weeks  is  given  and  what  shall 
be  accomplished  in  them  and  at  the  close  of  them  for 
the  people  Israel  and  for  Jerusalem.  But  now  as  we 
read  on  we  find  a  division  of  these  seventy  weeks. 
First:  Seven  zueeks;  secondly:  Sixty-two  weeks;  thirdly: 
One  week.  What  does  this  division  mean?  We  are  not 
left  to  speculation,  for  the  Word  makes  it  plain.  "Know, 
therefore,  and  understand:  From  the  going  forth  of  the 
word  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  Messiah 
the  Prince,  are  seven  weeks  and  sixty-two  weeks.  The 
street  and  the  moat  shall  be  built  again,  even  in  trouble- 
some times.  And-  after  sixty-two  weeks  shall  Messiah 
be  cut  off,  and  shall  have  nothing ;  and  the  people  of  the 


*To  our  readers  who  are  unsettled  on  the  interpretation  of  this 
most  important  prophecy,  or  who  desire  a  real  good  work  on 
Daniel  ix,  we  recommend  Sir  R.  Anderson's  most  excellent  work, 
"The  Coming  Prince."  It  is  most  helpful,  clearly  written  and 
sound.     It  may  be  ordered  from  us. 


200 

prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the 
sanctuary;  and  the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  an  over- 
flow, and  unto  the  end  war,  the  desolation  determined 
(verses  25-26)."  The  first  seven  weeks,  that  is  49  years, 
is  the  period  of  time  which  elapsed  from  the  giving  of 
the  command  to  rebuild  Jerusalem  and  its  walls  till  this 
was  accomplished.  The  commission  to  restore  and 
build  Jerusalem  was  given  to  Nehemiah  by  Artaxerxes 
in  his  twentieth  year.  The  sixty-two  weeks  is  the  per- 
iod of  time  from  the  complete  restoration  of  the  city  and 
the  walls  till  Messiah  is  cut  off,  that  is  the  death  of 
Christ,  and  there  is  nothing  for  Him.  His  own  people 
reject  Him  and  then  in  consequence  of  that  rejection, 
the  city  and  the  sanctuary  is  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
people  of  the  prince,  that  shall  come.  Wars  and  desola- 
tions, persecutions  and  troubles,  bloodshed  and  suffer- 
ings, was  to  be  the  lot  of  the  Jewish  people  after  the 
rejection  of  the  Messiah,  a  prophecy  stated  not  only  here 
but  throughout  the  prophetic  Word  and  so  solemnly 
come  true  for  well  nigh  two  thousand  years.  The  peo- 
ple who  destroyed  the  city  and  the  sanctuary  were  Ro- 
mans. But  now  we  have  one  week  left.  Of  this  last 
week  we  read  in  the  last  verse  of  Daniel  ix,  the  verse 
in  which  the  abomination  is  mentioned,  to  which  our 
Lord  and  the  Holy  Spirit  calls  attention.  This  week, 
or  seven  years,  is  the  end.  It  is  a  week,  a  period  of  time 
still  future.  With  the  69th  week  Messiah  was  cut  off, 
He  had  nothing;  His  people  had  rejected  Him  and  the 
offered  kingdom ;  an  indefinite  period  follows,  during 
which  the  Jews  are  outcasts,  scattered  into  tehe  corners 
of  the  earth,  Jerusalem  trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles. 
It  is  the  present  age  in  which  we  live,  in  which  God's 
gracious  offer  of  free  and  full  salvation  for  the  gather- 
ing   out    of    a    people    for   His    Name    (the    church)    is 


201 

preached.  How  soon  this  may  end  no  one  knows.  It 
will  end  at  some  time  and  then  Jewish  history  from  a 
prophetic  standpoint  will  be  resumed,  the  Jewish  age 
will  close  to  be  followed  by  the  kingdom  or  millennial 
age,  when  the  righteousness  of  the  ages  will  come  in. 
And  what  then  is  to  take  place  in  that  last  week,  in 
the  coming  seven  years,  that  very  time  which  was  in- 
dicated in  the  question  of  the  disciples  when  they  asked 
about  "the  end  of  the  age"  and  which  the  Lord  de- 
scribes in  this  part  of  His  discourse?  We  say  again 
it  seems  strange  that  so  many  learned  men  should  be 
so  superficial  in  expounding  the  Word  of  God.  How 
true  it  is,  many  of  these  things  are  hid  from  the  wise 
and  the  prudent;  and  they  are  revealed  unto  babes. 
Thus  many  have  not  alone  made  no  distinction  of  the 
division  of  the  weeks  as  given  in  the  text,  but 
they  have  not  dstinguished  between  the  two  princes 
mentioned  in  these  verses.  The  one  Prince  is  Mes- 
siah, the  other  prince  is  a  counterfeit,  the  false 
prince.  It  is  claimed  by  this  incorrect  interpretation 
that  the  prince  who  confirms  the  covenant  with  the 
many  for  one  week  is  Christ.  But  the  one  of  whom  the 
27th  verse  speaks  is  not  Messiah  the  Prince,  but  "the 
prince  who  shall  come."  It  is  that  wicked  head  of  the 
Roman  empire  in  its  last  revived  form  of  whom  we  read 
in  different  parts  in  prophecy.  The  Roman  power  had 
come  upon  the  land  and  destroyed'  Jerusalem  and  burned 
the  temple.  This  was  prophetically  stated  in  verse  26; 
but  it  does  not  say  that  "the  prince  shall  come  to  destroy 
the  city,"  but  the  people  of  the  prince  "that  shall  come," 
in  other  words,  the  Roman  power  destroyed  the  city 
and  from  that  power  a  prince  is  to  emanate  in  the  future. 
Up  to  now  this  prince  has  not  yet  appeared ;  when  he 
comes  he  will  be  the  leader  of  the  confederacy  of  the 


2&J 

nations,  who  inhabit  the  territory  of  the  Roman  empire, 
a  mighty  man  who  is  under  the  control  and  inspiration 
of  Satan.  Perhaps  Napoleon  I  is  the  nearest  photograph 
the  world  has  seen  of  that  prince  who  shall  come.  It 
would  be  most  interesting  to  follow  all  this  in  detail,  but 
we  are  not  writing  on  Daniel  or  the  false  king  and  the 
anti-Christ,  but  on  Matthew  xxiv,  and  so  we  can  only  give 
the  most  simple  facts  so  as  to  make  the  chapter  as  clear 
as  possible.  Now  when  this  prince,  the  head  of  the  re- 
vived Roman  empire,  appears,  he  will  make  a  covenant 
with  the  Jews.  His  covenant  will  be  for  one  week,  that 
is  for  seven  vears.  It  is  interesting:  to  notice  that  the. 
covenant  will  be  made  with  "the  many,"  net  with  all,  for 
the  believing  Jewish  remnant  will  know  the  true  person- 
ality of  the  wicked  prince  and  refuse  to  enter  into  that 
covenant.  What  this  covenant  will  be  we  do  not  follow 
now.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  will  be  undoubtedly  of  a 
political  nature  and  connected  with  the  resettlement  of 
the  Jews  in  Palestine,  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and 
the  institution  of  their  worship  by  sacrifices.  Zionism, 
the  great  restoration  movement  of  the  Jews  in  unbelief, 
sheds  a  flood  of  light  on  these  coming  events.  If  Zion- 
ists were  ready  to  herald  the  Sultan  as  their  deliverer, 
should  he  allow  them  the  practical  carrying  out  of  their 
programme,  how  much  more  will  they  will  be  willing  to 
accept  an  agreement  with  that  mighty  prince,  who  is  to 
come.  This  covenant  will  be  effected  in  the  beginning  of 
the  week  (seven  years)  and  all  will  run  smoothly  for  a 
while.  But  in  the  middle  of  the  week  he  will  unmask 
himself  and  in  conjunction  with  that  other  wicked  one, 
the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,  the  personal  anti- 
Christ,  he  will  break  the  covenant  and  cause  the  sacrifice 
and  the  oblation  to  cease.  In  its  place  he  will  set  up  the 
abomination  (Dan.  xi:3i).    What  then  is  this  abomina- 


203 

lion  ?  It  will  be  idolatrous  worship.  The  xiii  chapter  in 
the  book  of  Revelation  gives  ns  more  light  on  this  abom- 
ination of  the  last  three  years  and  a  half  of  the  Jewish 
age  ending.  We  shall  turn  to  this  chapter  at  once.  How- 
ever, before  we  do  so  we  wish  to  say  that  to  our  mind 
the  argument  is  complete.  The  seventy  weeks  have  to 
do  exclusively  with  the  Jewish  people.  The  first  seven 
weeks,  the  sixty-two  weeks  and  the  last,  the  seventieth. 
It  is  impossible  to  find  a  place  for  the  church  in  this 
prophecy.  Her  place  is  in  the  unreckoned  period  between 
the  sixty-ninth  and  seventieth  week.  She  does  not  be- 
long, nor  a  part  of  the  church,  into  the  last  week. 

And  now  we  shall  briefly  examine  the  book  of  Revela- 
tion on  this  subject.  We  have  laid  this  down  in  the  be- 
ginning of  our  exposition,  if  the  words  of  our  Lord  refer 
to  the  future  events  of  the  definitely  'marked  end  of  the 
age  then  these  three,  Old  Testament  prophecy  on  this 
theme,  the  Words  of  the  Lord,  and  the  book  of  Revela- 
tion must  be  a  complete  harmony.  We  have  seen  how 
perfectly  this  has  been  the  case  up  to  the  fifteenth  verse 
and  now  we  have  still  more  striking  proof. 

The  thirteenth  chapter  of  Revelation  corresponds  in 
part  to  the  middle  of  the  week ;  the  last  half  of  the  seven 
years  and  the  events  transpiring  on  Jewish  ground,  in 
Jerusalem,  are  described  here.  Here  we  find  the  1,260 
days,  the  y/2  years.  In  the  twelfth  chapter  Satan  is  seen 
cast  out  of  heaven,  cast  down  upon  the  earth  and  the 
heavens  pronounce  a  woe  upon  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth, 
for  he  is  come  down  and  has  great  wrath,  for  he  has  but 
little  time.  When  the  church  is  received  into  glory,  the 
casting  out  of  Satan  will  take  place.  He  comes  down  and 
finds  the  church  gone  from  this  earthly  scene  and  then  in 
his  great  wrath  he  begins  his  awful  work. 

The   thirteenth   chapter  of  Revelation   is   the  perfect 


204 

counterpart  of  Daniel's  prophecies ;  even  a  beginner  in 
the  study  of  prophecy  can  see  that.  Two  beasts  are  seen 
in  this  chapter.  The  first  rises  out  of  the  sea  typifying 
the  nations.  The  second  comes  out  of  the  earth  and  has 
two  horns  like  a  lamb,  but  speaks  as  a  dragon.  The  first 
is  "the  prince  that  shall  come,"  the  wicked  leader  of  the 
revived  Roman  empire ;  the  second  one  is  the  false  Mes- 
siah, the  anti-Christ,  who  mimics  the  true  Christ.  What 
will  then  take  place  is  clearly  stated  in  Rev.  xiii:i2-i8. 
There  we  read  of  an  image.  "And  he  had  power  to  give 
life  unto  the  image  of  the  beast,  that  the  image  of  the 
beast  should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  many  as 
would  not  worship  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be 
killed."  This,  no  doubt,  will  be  the  abomination,  an 
image  worshipped ;  as  well  as  the  second  beast,  "who 
opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called 
God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that  he  as  God  sitteth  in 
the  temple  of  God  (not  in  Rome,  but  in  Jerusalem),  show- 
ing himself  that  he  is  God"  (2  Thess.  h:4).  This  then 
is  the  abomination  which  falls  in  the  last  half  of  the 
seventieth  week.  The  result  of  this  abomination,  the 
revelation  of  Satan's  power  upon  the  earth,  will  be  the 
great  tribulation.  This  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  thir- 
teenth chapter  in  Revelation.  Of  this  our  Lord  speaks, 
when  he  said,  "for  then  shall  there  be  great  tribulation 
such  as  has  not  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
until  now,  nor  ever  shall  be."  And  in  Daniel  we  likewise 
read  of  this  tribulation.  "And  there  shall  be  a  time  of 
trouble,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation" 
(xii:i).  The  context  shows  that  it  will  be  at  this  very 
time  of  which  the  Lord  speaks,  immediately  before  His 
personal,  visible  and  glorious  Coming. 

The    words   which   the    Lord   utters   concerning   those 
who  will  be  then  on  the  earth  show  clearly  that  they 


205 

are  not  church  saints.  They  are  in  Judea  and  are  asked 
to  flee  to  the  mountains ;  a  foreshadowing  of  this  was 
seen  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under  Titus.  They 
are  asked  to  pray  that  their  flight  should  not  take  place 
on  the  Sabbath ;  they  are  called  the  "elect,"  a  term  which 
in  this  chapter  as  well  as  throughout  the  Gospels  always 
means  His  earthly  people ;  in  the  Epistles  the  word 
"elect"  always  means  the  church. 

The  next  words  of  the  Lord  in  His  discourse  contain 
warnings.  "Then  if  any  one  say  to  you,  Behold  here  is 
the  Christ,  or  here,  believe  is  not.  For  there  shall  arise 
false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  give  great 
signs  and  wonders  so  as  to  mislead,  if  possible,  even  the 
elect.  Behold  I  have  told  you  beforehand.  If,  therefore, 
they  say  to  you,  Behold,  he  is  in  the  desert,  go  not  forth ; 
behold  he  is  in  the  inner  chambers,  do  not  believe  it.  For 
as  the  lightning  goes  forth  from  the  east  and  shines  to 
the  west,  so  shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man" 
(verses  23-27).  Deceivers  have  appeared  from  time  to 
time  throughout  this  age,  claiming,  like  Simon  Magus, 
"to  be  some  great  one."  No  question  that  many  of  these 
evil,  fanatical  leaders  were  and  are  energized  by  Satan. 
Not  a  few  of  such  deluded  persons  we  see  to-day ;  the 
evil  power  likewise  manifests  its  signs  and  lying  wonders 
to  a  certain  degree,  while  another  system  claims  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  in  a  secret  manner  in  1874  (Mil- 
lennial Dawnism).  But  all  this  is  not  a  fulfilment  of  the 
words  spoken  by  the  Lord.  The  fulfilment  comes  in  the 
great  tribulation.  Of  the  second  beast,  who  imitates  the 
lamb,  but  speaks  as  a  dragon,  it  is  written,  "He  doeth 
great  wonders  so  that  he  maketh  fire  to  come  down  from 
heaven  on  the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men.  And  he  de- 
ceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by  the  means  of 
these  miracles  which  he  had  power  to  do  in.  the  sight  of 


206 

the  beast"  (Rev.  xiii:i3-i4).  This  corresponds  with  that 
passage  in  2  Thess.  ii  from  which  we  quoted  above;  the 
false  Christ  will  deceive  by  his  signs  and  lying  wonders 
and  the  strong  delusion,  all  those  who  believed  not  the 
truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness.  Not  alone 
will  the  apostate  part  of  the  Jewish  people  be  deceived 
by  these  lying  wonders,  but  also  the  apostate  part  of 
Christendom,  left  behind  after  the  rapture  of  the  church 
has  taken  place,  will  be  deceived  and  swept  away  in  the 
great  judgments  of  that  coming  day.  These  warnings 
will  be  of  great  importance  and  value  to  the  Jewish  be- 
lieving remnant,  living  in  those  days.  The  Lord  tells 
them  that  His  coming  will  not  be  in  a  secret  way  but 
openly,  seen  by  all  like  the  flash  of  lightning.  It  will  be 
a  sudden,  a  startling  coming;  as  the  lightning  flashes 
over  the  dark  sky  and  strikes  down  upon  the  earth,  so 
will  He  the  Son  of  Man  make  his  appearance.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  say  that  this  lightning-like  Coming  is  wholly 
distinct  from  His  coming-  for  His  own.  Then  the  Lord 
adds  a  significant  word,  "For  wherever  the  carcase  is, 
there  will  be  gathered  the  eagles"  (verse  28).  The  inter- 
pretation which  makes  the  eagles  the  church,  or  a  certain 
class  of  "advanced  believers"  is  so  weak  and  fanciful  that 
we  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  speak  of  it  here.  The 
carcase  is  the  type  of  corruption  and  it  represents  here 
the  unbelieving  part  of  the  Jewish  people,  that  part  which 
followed  the  beast.  The  eagles  stand  for  the  judgments. 
In  the  next  verses  the  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in 
Power  and  Glory  is  revealed  by  Himself,  the  coming  One. 
Once  more  we  shall  have  to  turn  back  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  to  the  book  of  Revelation  to  find  another  per- 
fect harmony. 

"But  immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days 
the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  not  give  her 


207 

light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers 
of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken.  And  then  shall  appear 
the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  heaven ;  then  shall  all  the 
tribes  of  the  land  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of 
Man  coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and 
great  glory.  And  He  shall  send  His  angels  with  a  great 
sound  of  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather  together  His 
elect  from  the  four  winds  from  the  one  extremity  of  the 
heavens  to  the  other  extremity  of  them"  (verses  29-31). 

It  is  unnecessary  to  call  attention  to  the  misinterpreta- 
tion of  this  passage,  which  by  the  spiritualizing  method 
claims  a  fulfillment  of  these  words  at  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  What  we  have  learned  in  the 
exposition  of  this  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse  makes  such 
an  application  and  interpretation  an  impossibility.  It  is 
ridiculous  to  say  that  the  Lord  spoke  these  words  about 
His  visible  manifestation,  but  did  not  really  mean  a  literal 
return ;  but  what  He  meant  is  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem. The  context  proves  that  the  event  could  not  have 
taken  place  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  city. 

What  is  before  us  in  these  words  of  the  Lord  is  the 
great  climax  of  the  end,  the  visible  appearing  of  the  Son 
of  Man.  It  is  to  be  immediately  after  the  days  of  tribula- 
tion ;  that  tribulation  we  have  seen  is  still  future  and  has 
for  its  center  Jerusalem,  though  all  the  earth  will  share 
in  it.  And  now  we  have  to  turn  once  more  to  the  Old 
Testament  Word  of  Prophecy.  Do  we  find  there  any- 
thing promised,  which  corresponds  to  this  predicted  visi- 
ble and  glorious  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  ?  And  if  we 
find  in  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  which  correspond 
"o  these  words,  in  what  connection  do  we  find  them? 

We  find  indeed  in  the  Old  Testament  numerous  pre- 
dictions of  just  such  an  event  of  which  the  Lord  speaks 
here  and  a  careful  investigation  will  show  that  these  pre- 


208 

dictions  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  prediction  of  our 
Lord  here  fully  harmonize. 

The  first  passage  we  desire  to  mention  is  a  prophecy 
in  the  last  chapter  of  Joel.  "The  sun  and  the  moon  shall 
be  darkened,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining" 
(Joel  iii : 1 5 ) .  Joel  is  one  of  the  earliest  prohpets.  While 
he  announces  and  speaks  of  a  great  locust  judgment 
which  came  upon  the  people  Israel  and  upon  the  land, 
his  prophecy  points  to  the  great  future  fulfillment  in  the 
"Yom  Jehovah,"  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  The  third  chapter 
contains  one  of  the  great  prophecies  of  that  future  day 
and  the  events  connected  with  that  day.  The  verse  we 
quoted  gives  the  physical  signs  and  the  verses  which 
follow  show  that  the  Lord  will  be  manifested  in  His 
Glory  in  the  midst  of  these  wonders  in  the  heavens.  The 
prophets  which  prophesy  after  Joel  have  nearly  all  visions 
of  that  day. 

We  give  a  few  other  Scriptures  to  show  this.  "And 
when  I  shall  put  thee  out,  I  will  cover  the  heaven,  and 
make  the  stars  thereof  dark ;  I  will  cover  the  sun  with  a 
cloud,  and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light.  All  the 
bright  light  will  I  make  dark  over  thee,  and  set  darkness 
upon  thy  land  saith  the  Lord  God"  (Ezek.  xxxn:7-8). 
Here  it  is  the  proclamation  of  the  day  as  it  is  to  come 
upon  Egypt  and  the  nations.  Another  prophecy  of  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  manifestation  is  found  in  Isaiah  xiii  :- 
9-10.  "Behold  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  cruel  both 
with  wrath  and  fierce  anger,  to  lay  the  land  desolate,  and 
he  shall  destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of  it.  For  the 
Stars  of  heaven,  and  the  constellations  thereof  shall  not 
give  their  light ;  the  sun  shall  be  darkened  in  his  going 
forth,  and  the  moon  shall  not  cause  her  light  to  shine." 
We  do  not  need  to  quote  other  prophecies  from  the 
prophetic  books  and  the  Psalms     The  day  of  the  Lord 


209 

is  announced  in  many  passages.  It  is  always  seen  in 
connection  with  great  troubles  on  the  earth,  tribulation 
tor  His  earthly  people,  culminating  in  these  startling 
physical  signs,  darkened  heavens,  shaking  earth  and  the 
manifestation  of  the  Glory  of  the  Lord.  And  this  is  the 
event  of  which  our  Lord  speaks  in  Matthew  xxiv:2C). 

But  there  will  be  not  only  physical  signs,  but  some- 
thing else  will  occur.  The  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  will 
appear  in  the  heaven.  This  will  be  followed  by  the 
mourning  of  the  tribes  and  then  the  Son  of  Man  will 
come  on  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory. 

What  is  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man?  We  believe  it] 
will  be  the  Shekinah  cloud.  It  was  a  cloud  which  en- 
shrouded His  form  when  He  tarried  with  Israel  of  old.. 
A  cloud  it  was  which  received  Him  out  of  the  sight  of 
His  disciples;  a  cloud  must  bring  Him  back.  At  the  bit-, 
ter  end  of  the  great  tribulation,  when  His  faithful  rem- 
nant is  hard  pressed  on  all  sides,  when  they  cry  to  God 
for  the  heavens  to  open  and  to  come  down,  there  will  be 
seen,  we  believe,  in  the  heavens  a  bright  and  shining 
cloud,  a  cloud  from  which  fire  shines  out.  Well  may 
the  believing  Jewish  remnant  then  cry  out,  "Lo,  this  is 
our  God,  we  have  waited  for  Him,  this  is  the  Lord,  He 
will  save  us."  His  elect  earthly  people,  those  which  have 
not  been  swept  away  during  the  great  tribulation,  the 
"all  Israel"  of  Romans  xi  '.26  will  know  what  that  cloud 
means.  Jehovah  is  coming  to  be  manifested.  What 
their  prophets  saw  and  predicted  is  at  last  to  come  true. 
The  Day  of  Jehovah  is  about  to  dawn,  the  Lord  their 
King  is  coming. 

The  consequence  will  be  a  national  mourning.     It  is  \ 
not  to  be  thought  for  a  moment  that  all  the  tribes  must 
be  in  the  land.     The  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  will  appear 
in  the  heavens  and  will  be  seen  from  all  continents.    "All. 


210 

the  tribes  of  the  land"  simply  means  that  the  persons 
I  who  mourn  belong  to  all  the  tribes  of  Israel.  This  again 
is  predicted  in  the  OldTestament.  "They  shall  look  upon 
me  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for 
Him  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in 
bitterness  for  Him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his 
first  born"  (Zech.  xii:io).  But  that  sign  of  the  Son  of 
Man  will  not  tarry  long  in  the  heavens.  He  Himself 
comes  on  the  clouds  of  heaven  in  great  power  and  glory. 
The  promise  given  by  the  two  men  at  the  time  of  the 
Lord's  ascension  is  now  to  be  fulfilled.  "This  same  Jesus 
which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come 
in  like  manner,  as  ye  see  Him  go  into  heaven."  He  as- 
cended upon  high ;  He  predicted  this  event  in  uttering 
these  words  in  the  Olivet  discourse. 

And  this  too  is  found  in  the  Old  Testament  prophetic 
Word.  "I  saw  in  the  night  visions  and  behold,  one,  like 
the  Son  of  Man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven  *  *  *" 
(Daniel  vii:i4).  This  takes  place  after  the  ten-horned 
beast  with  the  little  horn,  with  the  eyes  like  the  eyes  of 
man,  and  a  mouth  speaking  great  things,  had  come  forth. 
All  this  refers  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age.  The  little 
horn  is  the  same  evil  person  seen  elsewhere  in  prophecy. 
It  is  then  and  not  before,  when  the  little  horn  is  in  ex- 
istence, that  Daniel  sees  the  Ancient  of  Days  and  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to 
receive  the  Kingdom.  What  a  wonderful  and  divine  unity 
the  Scriptures  are ! 

If  we  turn  briefly  to  the  Book  of  Revelation,  we  shall 
find  once  more  a  minute  confirmation  of  these  revealed 
events.  It  is  the  Book  which  in  its  greater  part  is  taken 
up  with  the  description  of  the  tribulation,  judgments  and 
other  events  of  the  last  week  of  Daniel ;  the  seven  years 
with  which  the  age  closes.     Therefore  in  the  very  be- 


211 

ginning  of  the  Book  do  we  find  a  solemn  announcement 
which  fully  harmonizes  with  the  words  before  us  here. 
"Behold  He  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see 
Him,  and  they  also  which  pierced  Him ;  and  all  the  tribes 
of  the  land  shall  wail  because  of  Him.  Even  so.  Amen" 
(Rev.  i'.y).  It  needs  no  further  comment  to  show  how 
fully  these  words  confirm  both  the  Old  Testament  pre- 
dictions and  the  predictions  of  our  Lord.  This  striking 
harmony  should  not  appear  to  us  as  so  very  wonderful, 
for  He  who  speaks  the  words  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  is 
the  same  who  spoke  through  the  prophets  and  the  last 
Book  is  "the  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave 
unto  Him." 

For  a  fuller  description  of  His  Coming  the  reader  will 
turn  to  Rev.  xix:ii-i6. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  next  words.  "And  He  shall 
send  His  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  trumpet,  and  they 
shall  gather  together  His  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from 
the  one  extremity  of  the  heavens  to  the  other  extremity 
of  them."  Ang£ls_appLear_naw^nce  niorejxpon  the  scene. 
Throughout  this  present  dispensation  angels  as  the  minis- 
tering spirits  are  not  seen ;  that  they  do  minister  is  cer- 
tainly a  fact.  But  as  soon  as  He  comes  again,  He  who 
was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  and  who  is  above 
the  angels  in  Glory,  they  will  be  sent  forth  again.  When 
he  was  born  in  Bethlehem  they  appeared  with  their  heav- 
enly song  of  praise ;  when  He  comes  again  the  holy  angels 
will  accompany  the  Christ  and  His  church  and  the  angels 
will  worship  Him  (Heb.  i:i6).  It  is  also  written  "the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  His  migh- 
ty angels,  in  flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that 
know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ"  (2  Thess.  1  7-8).  In  Matthew  xiii  we  like- 
wise find  that  angels  are  mentioned  in  connection  with 


212 

the  end  of  the  age,  the  same  end  as  here.  "The  Son  of 
Man  shall  send  forth  His  angels,  and  He  shall  gather  out 
of  His  Kingdom  all  things  that  offend  and  them  which 
do  iniquity"  (xiii:4_i).  "So  shall  it  be  at  the  end  of  the 
age;  the  angels  shall  come  forth  and  sever  the  wicked 
from  among  the  just"  (xiii  -49) .  In  our  passage  the  angels 
sound  a  trumpet  and  they  go  out  to  gather  His  elect 
from  the  four  winds.  We  say  once  more  that  this  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  church.  The  removal  of  the 
church  takes  place  before  the  last  week  of  Daniel's  proph- 
ecy begins  and  when  the  Lord  comes  immediately  after 
the  days  of  tribulation,  the  church  is  with  Him  and  in 
His  Glory  the  church  is  manifested.  He  comes  and  brings 
His  saints  with  Him.  The  revelation  concerning  His 
coming  for  the  church  is  recorded  in  1  Thess.  iv:i5-i8. 
To  make  the  elect  in  Mntthew  xxiv  130  the  church,  as  it 
is  done  so  often,  is  bewildering  and  a  wrong  interpre- 
tation. This  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse,  as  we  have 
shown,  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  church. 
The  "Elect"  in  this  chapter  always  means  His  elect  earth- 
ly people,  as  stated  befoie. 

The  angels  will  gather  them  back  to  the  land  and  bring 
them  in,  for  the  people  in  greater  part  are  still  scattered 
in  the  corners  of  the  earth,  when  the  Son  of  Man,  the 
King  of  Israel,  returns.    Of  this  the  Old  Testament  bears 
witness.    "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
great  trumpet  shall  be  blown,  and  they  shall  come,  which 
were  ready  to  perish  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  the  out- 
casts in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  shall  worship  the  Lord  in 
the  holy  mount  of  Jerusalem"     (Isaiah  xxvii:i3).     "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  Lord  shall  set 
His  hand  again  the  second  time  to  recover  the  remnant 
of  His  people,  which  shall  be  left  from  Assyria,  and  from 
Egypt,  and  from  Pathros  and  from  Cush,  and  from  Shi- 


213 

nar,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from  the  islands  of  the  sea. 
And  He  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the  nations,  and  shall 
assemble  the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  gather  together  the 
dispersed  of  Judah  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth" 
(Isaiah  xi:ii,  12).  "Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  it  shall  no  more  be  said,  The  Lord 
liveth,  that  brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt.  But  the  Lord  liveth,  that  brought  up  the 
children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  the  north,  and  from 
all  the  lands  whither  He  had  driven  them;  and  I  will 
bring  them  again  into  their  land  that  I  gave  unto  their 
fathers.  Behold,  I  will  send  for  many  fishers,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  they  shall  find  them  ;  and  after  will  I  send  for 
many  hunters,  and  they  shall  hunt  from  every  mountain, 
and  from  every  hill,  and  out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks'* 
(Jer.  XVL4-16).  This  regathering  of  the  remnant  of 
Israel,  the  people  left  after  the  great  tribulation,  takes 
place  after  the  Lord  has  been  manifested  out  of  the  heav- 
ens. Then  the  "lost  tribes"  will  be  discovered,  and  dur- 
ing the  age  of  the  Kingdom,  God  will  fulfil  in  His  re- 
gathered  people,  the  nation  Israel,  all  the  precious  prom- 
ises His  prophets  spoke  and  which  a  false  theory  called 
"Anglo-Israelism"  attempts  to  have  realized  in  this 
present  Christian  age. 

What  follows  now  are  exhortations  and  solemn  warn- 
ings given  by  the  Lord,  and  these  form  a  sublime  con- 
clusion of  this  first  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse,  referring, 
as  we  have  learned,  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  Age  We 
shall  look  briefly  at  each  verse. 

"But  learn  the  parable  from  the  figtree :  Wrhen  al- 
ready its  branch  becomes  tender  and  produces  leaves,  ye 
know  that  the  summer  is  nigh.  Thus  also  ye,  when  ye 
see  all  these  things,  know  that  it  is  near,  at  the  doors" 
(verses  32,  33).    The  figtree  is  the  picture  of  Israel.    The 


2i4 

parable  of  the  figtree  in  Luke  xiii  is  well  known,  and  its 
application  is  Israel,  to  whom  the  Lord  came,  looking 
for  fruit,  and  did  not  find  it.  Luke  xxi,  the  record"  there 
of  this  discourse,  mentions  likewise  the  figtree  and  all 
the  trees;  these  are  the  Gentiles,  the  nations.  In  Mat- 
thew xxi,  we  see  in  the  withered  figtree  a  type  of  Israel's 
spiritual  and  national  death.  But  that  withered  tree  is 
to  be  vitalized.  The  figtree  will  bud  again.  However, 
the  characteristic  of  the  figtree  is  that  fruit  and  leaves 
are  there  together.  As  soon  as  the  branch  becomes  tender 
the  fruit  is  found.  It  is  a  rapid  development.  This  is  the 
lesson  here.  Israel's  blessing,  new  life,  fruit  and  glory 
will  quickly  be  realized  in  those  end  days.  When  in  these 
last  seven  years,  and  especially  the  last  1,260  days,  all 
these  things  come  to  pass,  they  will  know  that  all  which 
is  promised  to  Israel  will  be  at  hand.  The  other  applica- 
tion, that  nozv  we  behold  Israel  like  a  budding  figtree, 
signs  of  new  national  life  and  in  this  a  sign  of  the  times, 
is  certainly  not  wrong.  It  tells  us  of  the  nearness  of  the 
end. 

"Verily  I  say  unto  you,  This  generation  will  not  have 
passed  away  until  all  these  things  shall  have  taken  place. 
The  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my 
Words  shall  in  no  wise  pass  away"  (verses  34,  35). 

The  wrong  interpretation  of  the  word  "generation"  is 
responsible  for  the  erroneous  conception  so  prevalent  in 
our  days.  It  is  said  that  "this  generation"  must  mean 
the  very  generation,  the  people  who  lived  then  upon  the 
earth,  when  the  Lord  spoke  these  words.  It  is  easily 
seen  how,  if  this  is  the  meaning  of  "this  generation,"  the 
events  predicted  by  our  Lord  must  have  been  fulfilled 
within  the  life-time  of  the  people  living  then.  What 
other  event  could  be  meant  than  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem in  the  year  70?    Thus  the  wrong  interpretation  of 


2*5 

these  two  words,  "this  generation,"  has  led  the  large 
numbers  of  Bible  teachers  and  readers  of  this  discourse 
astray.  But  let  us  get  the  right  meaning  of  "generation," 
and  all  will  be  clear.  The  word  genca  means  not  neces- 
sarily the  same  persons  living,  but  it  has  also  the  meaning 
of  race.  The  English  word  "generation"  has  this  mean- 
ing of  "family  or  a  race  of  a  certain  class  of  people." 
And  so  has  the  Greek.  It  is  used  in  that  sense  in  Luke 
xvi  :&  "This  generation"  is  the  race  sprung  from  Abra- 
ham, God's  chosen  earthly  people.  Well  have  they  been 
called  "the  everlasting  nation ;"  better  still  we  could  call 
them  "the  nation  of  destiny."  God  has  kept  this  race, 
and  is  keeping  them  for  the  fulfilment  of  His  own  great, 
revealed  purpose.  The  verse,  however,  has  also  the 
meaning  that  the  people  living,  when  the  end  of  the 
Jewish  age  sets  in,  will  behold  its  termination ;  it  will  | 
all  be  accomplished  in  a  small  space  of  time.  Yea  heaven/ 
and  earth  may  pass  away  but  His  Words  will  not  pass  away. 
How  solemn  this  is  !  Here  we  read  still  the  same  great  and 
mighty  Words,  which  were  hated  by  thousands  of  God's 
enemies  in  the  past ;  words  which  have  been  attacked  and  de- 
nied. And  still  the  old  enemy  of  the  written  Word  is  at  it, 
and  through  his  chosen  instruments  (alas!  many  of  them  in 
the  midst  of  the  professing  church)  attacks  and  belittles 
these  Words.  They  stand !  They  are  as  eternal  and 
divine,  as  infallible  and  true,  as  He,  the  eternal  Sort  of 
God,  is  from  whose  lips  they  came. 

"But  of  that  day  and  hour  no  one  knows,  not  even  the 
angels  of  the  heavens,  but  my  Father  alone"  (verse  37). 

This  makes  the  matter  still  more  solemn.  That  day 
and  hour,  which  will  usher  in  these  mighty  events,  of 
which  the  Lord  speaks  in  His  discourse,  culminating  in 
His  own  personal  and  glorious  manifestation,  is  un- 
known.    In  the  Gospel  of  Mark  the  Holy  Spirit  adds, 


2l6 

"nor  the  Son."  This  addition  is  made  in  Mark  because 
ithere  our  Lord  is  viewed  as  God's  servant,  and  a  servant 
"does  not  know  what  his  master  doeth."  The  Father 
knows  the  day  and  the  hour,  when  all  this  is  to  come  to 
pass  The  beginning  of  it  is  liable  to  occur  at  any  time. 
How  foolish,  then,  to  speculate  on  the  possible  time  of 
our  Lord's  return — and  the  setting  of  years  and  days.  It 
dishonors  the  Word  and  brings  reproach  upon  Prophecy. 

"But  as  the  days  of  Noe,  so  shall  be  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  For  as  they  were  in  the  days  which  were 
before  the  flood,  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giv- 
ing in  marriage,  until  the  day  on  which  Noe  entered  into 
the  ark,  and  they  knew  not  till  the  flood  came  and  took 
all  away ;  thus  shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
Then  two  shall  be  in  the  field,  one  is  taken  and  one  is 
left;  two  women  grinding  at  the  mill,  one  is  taken  and 
one  is  left.  Watch  therefore,  for  ye  know  not  in  what 
hour  your  Lord  comes"  (verses  37-42). 

The  introduction  here  of  Noah  and  the  flood  is  in  ful- 
lest accord  with  the  entire  chapter.  Noah  lived  at  the 
close  of  an  age,  and  was  saved  with  his  house  through 
a  great  judgment,  and  then  became  the  beginning  of  a 
new  age.  That  this  is  typical  of  the  remnant  of  Israel 
living  at  the  close  of  the  Jewish  age  is  well  known.  As 
Noaheic  age  closed  with  the  deluge,  so  will  the  Jewish 
age  close  with  judgment.  The  judgment  came  suddenly 
upon  the  ungodly  generation  of  Noah's  day;  thus  will  it 
be  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh.  Two  classes  were 
living  in  Noah's  day.  The  one  who  were  unbelieving 
and  these  were  swept  away  by  the  divine  judgment.  The 
other  class  was  Noah  and  his  house,  and  he  and  his  own 
were  left  and  not  destroyed  by  the  judgment  It  will  be 
so  again  in  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  The  unbe- 
lievers will  be  taken  away  in  the  day  of  judgment  and 


217 

wrath ;  the  others  will  be  left  on  the  earth  to  receive  and 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  the  coming  age  and  enter  into  the 
kingdom,  which  will  then  be  established.  It  is  the  op- 
posite meaning  of  "taken"  and  "left"  when  the  Lord 
comes  as  the  "Bridegroom"  for  His  church.  Then,  too, 
some  will  be  taken  and  others  left.  The  true  believers 
will  be  taken  into  glory,  caught  up  in  clouds  to  meet  Him 
in  the  air;  the  unbelievers  and  mere  professors  will  be 
left.  Some  deny  thrt  the  word  "taken"  in  our  passage 
means  a  judicial  taking  away.  The  context,  however, 
shows  (the  reference  to  Noah  and  the  flood)  that  this 
must  be  the  meaning.  Surely  those  who  were  taken  by 
the  flood  were  not  "received  into  glory." 

And  now  once  more  His  warning  voice  is  heard. 

"But  know  this,  that  if  the  master  of  the  house  had 
known  in  what  watch  the  thief  was  coming,  he  would 
have  watched  and  not  have  suffered  his  house  to  be  dug- 
through.  Wherefore  ye  also,  be  ye  ready,  for  in  that 
hour  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Alan  comes"  (verses  43,  44). 

With  these  worhs  of  warning  and  exhortation  to  watch, 
our  Lord  closes  the  predictions  relating  to  the  end  of  the 
Jewish  age.  This  warning  will  be  understood  and  heeded 
by  the  Jewish  remnant,  to  which  it  is  addressed  They 
are  to  zuatcJi  for  the  Son  of  Man ;  the  church  is  to  wait 
for  her  Lord. 

With  the  next  verse,  the  beginning  of  the  first  of  three 
parables  relating  to  His  coming,  a  new  part  of  the  Olivet 
discourse  begins.  We  will  find  this  very  clearly  marked 
and  shall  prove  next  that  this  part,  from  chapter  xxiv  145 
to  chapter  xxv  130  refers  no  longer  to  the  events  which 
transpire  on  the  earth  during  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age, 
but  to  something  altogether  different. 

The  second  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse  begins  with 
the  45th  verse  of  this  great  chapter  and  extends  to  chap- 


2lB 

ter  xxv  :3c     The  contents  of  this  division  are  entirely 
different  from  the  preceding  one.    Up  to  the  forty-fourth 
verse  we  learned  that  the  Lord  gives  predictions  relating 
to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age,  an  end  still  to  come.    We 
traced  all  these  predictions  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in 
the   great  book   of   prophecy   in   the   New   Testament,   the 
Revelation.     We  found   the  closest  correspondency   be- 
tween Matthew  xxiv  13-44,  certain  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  Book  of  Revelation,  because  all  three  deal 
with  the  same  period  of  time.     But  now  another  series 
of  predictions  are  before  us  which  have  no  connection 
with  Old  Testament  prophecy  nor  with  Revelation  vi  :xix. 
In  the  first  part  of  this  discourse  we  hear  of  wars,  pesti- 
lence, famine,  great  tribulation,  false  Christs,  the  abomi- 
nation of  desolation,  Judea,  the  Sabbath  day  and  the  vis- 
ible and  glorious  coming  of  the  Son  of  Alan.    The  exhor- 
tations  were    to   flee   to    the   mountains,   to   pray   that   the 
flight  take  not  place  on  the  Sabbath  day,  to  endure  unto 
the  end  for  salvation,  etc.     Of  all  this  we  do  not  read  a 
word  in  the  second  section  of  our  Lord's  utterances.    Here 
again  he  speaks  in  parables  as  He  did  in  His  second  dis- 
course in   this    Gospel,   contained   in   chapter  xiii.     The 
three  parables  which  make  up  this  part  of  the  Olivet  dis- 
course picture  the  condition  of  things  during  the  absence 
of  the  King  and  how  in  the  professing  church,  in  Chris- 
tendom, there  will  be  the  true  and  the  false,  possessors 
and  professors,  saved  and  unsaved,  such  who  have  life 
and  such  who  have  a  name  to  live  but  are  dead.     These 
three  parables  then  may  be  justly  put  alongside  of  the 
seven  parables  in  chapter  xiii  dealing  with  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  the  phrase  the  Lord  uses  again  in  giving  the 
second    parable.     The   great   parables   in    the   thirteenth 
chapter  give  the  beginning,  the  external  and  internal  de- 
velopment of  Christendom,  in  a  general  way;  the  three 


219 

parables  in  the  Olivet  discourse  give  the  moral  aspect  cf 
those  who  are  in  the  professing  church,  and  each  is  linked 
with  the  fact  of  His  coming  again.  His  coming  discerns 
the  true  and  the  false  and  brings  the  separation  of  the 
good  from  the  bad. 

Let  us,  however,  understand  clearly  that  we  have  in 
these  parables  not  the  full  revelation  of  what  is  the  bles- 
sed Hope  for  the  Church.  The  Church  is,  as  we  have 
seen  from  our  exposition,  mentioned  in  this  first  Gospel 
and  spoken  of  as  being  an  institution  of  the  future. 

Not  in  the  Gospels  do  we  find  full  revelation  about  the 
church,  her  relationships,  her  calling,  her  heavenly  hope 
and  glorious  destiny.  All  this  is  made  known  elsewhere 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  parables  concern  the  Chris- 
tian profession  in  a  general  way.  If  we  hold  this  fast  in 
our  minds  we  shall  find  no  difficulties  at  all.  This  Chris-, 
tian  age  is  a  mixed  age  and  will  be  so  to  the  end  and  the 
Coming  One  will  find  the  faithful  and  prudent  servant 
and  the  evil  servant;  the  wise  virgins  and  the  foolish;  the 
faithful  servants  using  their  talents  and  the  wicked  and 
slothful  servant.  The  Coming  One  will  mete  out  the 
judgment.  The  faithful  servant  is  called  "Blessed,"  the 
evil  servant  is  cut  in  two  and  cast  out.  The  wise  virgins 
go  in  with  the  bridegroom  and  the  foolish  face  a  shut 
door.  The  servants  who  used  the  talents  are  set  over 
many  things  and  the  slothful  servant  is  cast  out  into  the 
outer  darkness.  That  the  Lord  will  first  descend  into  the 
air  (i  Thess.  iv:i5-i8)  and  that  the  true  believers,  resur- 
rected saints  and  living  saints  will  be  caught  up  in  clouds 
to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  to  appear  then  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ ;  that  the  unsaved,  nominal  Chris- 
tians will  go  into  apostasy  and  after  the  great  tribulation 
receive  judgment  when  the  Lord  comes  out  of  heaven 


220 

and  all  His  saints  with  Him — all  this  is  not  revealed  in 
these  parables. 

And  now  we  turn  to  the  first  parable. 

"Who  then  is  the  faithful  and  prudent  bondman  whom 
his  lord  has  set  over  his  household,  to  give  them  food  in 
season?  Blessed  is  that  bondman  whom  his  lord  on  com- 
ing- shall  find  doing  thus.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that 
he  will  set  him  over  all  his  substance.  But  if  that  evil 
bondman  should  say  in  his  heart,  My  lord  delays  to  come, 
and  begin  to  beat  his  fellow  bondmen,  and  eat  and  drink 
with  the  drunken,  the  lord  of  that  bondman  shall  come 
in  a  day  when  he  does  not  expect  it  and  in  an  hour  he 
knows  not  of,  and  shall  cut  him  in  two  and  appoint  his 
portion  with  the  hypocrites ;  there  shall  be  the  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth"  (verses  45-51). 

The  Lord  still  speaks  to  His  disciples,  but  let  us  under- 
stand now  while  they  are  viewed  in  the  first  part  as  Jew- 
ish disciples  and  typical  of  the  remnant  of  Israel  in  the 
end  of  the  Jewish  age,  here  the  Lord  looks  upon  them 
as  soon  to  be  in  connection  with  something  new,  that  is, 
Christianity.  The  parable  itself  is  the  simplest  of  all 
three ;  yet  it  has  very  significant  and  far-reaching  lessons. 
The  thought  in  this  parable  is  service  over  the  house- 
hold ;  the  household  are  those  who  are  Christ's.  This 
household  is  to  receive  food  in  season  and  the  bondman 
or  servant,  faithful  and  prudent,  is  to  supply  the  house- 
hold with  that  food.  He  does  it  faithfully  and  at  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  this  faithful  and  prudent  bondman 
is  set  over  all  the  substance  of  his  lord.  This  is  an  ex- 
tremely beautiful  and  blessed  parable.  It  takes  us  at 
once  upon  an  entirely  new  ground.  Judaism  knows  noth- 
ing of  that  kind  of  ministry  which  is  spoken  of  here ;  it 
is  essentially  Christian.  The  Lord,  the  great  shepherd  of 
His  sheep,  for  whom  He  died,  whom  He  loves  so  much, 


221 

appointed  His  own  as  bondmen  of  Himself,  to  feed  His 
flock,  to  give  them  to  eat.  This  is  what  pleases  the  Lord, 
and  it  is  only  another  proof  of  how  dear  and  beloved  His 
own  people  are  to  Him.  Faithfulness  to  Him  and  to  His 
own,  His  household,  is  the  teaching  of  these  words.  The 
true  servant  (and  every  true  believer  has  a  service)  is 
faithful  and  prudent  and  attends  to  that,  to  which  his 
Lord  has  called  him.  And  what  keeps  in  such  service? 
What  is  it  that  makes  it  ever  fresh  and  refreshing,  sweet 
and  precious?  It  is  the  Hope  of  His  Coming,  yea,  His 
imminent  coming.  The  next  paragraph,  the  description 
of  the  evil  servant  with  his  evil  watchword,  will  bring 
this  more  prominently  to  our  view.  The  reward  of  the 
faithful  and  prudent  servant  is  a  higher  service,  a  service 
over  all  the  substance  of  His  Lord.  Service  does  not 
terminate  with  this  earthly  life ;  there  is  a  service  up 
yonder,  for  "His  servants  shall  serve  Him."  Faithful 
service  here  fits  for  that  higher  service  in  His  presence. 
According  to  our  faithfulness  in  service  here  we  shall 
find  service  there  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  His  Name. 

But  now  the  other  side  comes  up.  The  Lord  pictures 
an  evil  servant  and  he  saith  in  his  heart,  "My  lord  delays 
his  coming."  He  acts  outrageously,  smites  his  fellow 
servants  and  eats  and  drinks  with  the  drunken ;  suddenly 
his  lord  comes  and  gives  him  his  portion  with  the  hypo- 
crites. 

The  interpretation  is  easily  made.  Here  is  the  spuri- 
ous, that  which  has  taken  the  name  of  Christ  and  claims 
to  be  a  servant  likewise.  The  person  described  is  a  hypo- 
crite ;  he  professes  outwardly  to  be  a  servant  under  his 
lord,  but  in  his  heart  he  saith,  "My  lord  delays  his  com- 
ing." Then  he  usurps  the  place  of  authority,  instead  of 
serving  in  meekness,  feeding  Christ's  own,  he  domineers 
over  fellow  servants  and  associates  with  the  drunken. 

The  faithful  and  prudent  servant  is  a  picture  of  how 


222 

it  ought  to  be  in  the  house,  the  church,  and  the  evil  ser- 
vant in  his  hypocrisy  and  evil  work  is  a  picture  of  Chris- 
tendom in  corruption.  The  starting  point  of  this  corrup- 
tion, this  domineering  over  fellow  servants  and  associa- 
tion with  the  drunken,  the  world,  began  with  saying  "my 
Lord  delayeth  his  coming."  It  began  in  the  heart.  He 
gave  up  first  in  his  heart  that  Hope,  which  was  so  pro- 
nounced in  the  early  church.  The  belief  given  up  that 
the  Lord  would  come  back,  the  departure  from  the  doc- 
trine of  the  imminency  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  soon 
brought  out  the  evils  which  the  parable  pictures.  If  the 
return  of  the  Lord  at  any  time  had  been  the  heart  faith 
of  the  professing  church,  all  the  abominations  of  which 
the  parable  speaks  would  have  been  well  nigh  an  im- 
possibility. Gradually  the  belief  in  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  was  given  up ;  and  as  it  was  abandoned  in  the  pro- 
fessing church,  "the  domineers  of  the  people,"  the  Nico- 
laitans  sprung  up ;  an  earthly  priesthood  was  inaugurated, 
fashioned  after  a  priesthood,  which  was  the  shadow  of 
the  better  things,  fulfilled  in  Christ.  This  false  priest- 
hood took  the  place  of  authority  and  domineers  over  the 
others,  the  servants  of  Christ.  The  separation  was  like- 
wise given  up  and  the  church  became  identified  with  the 
world.  It  is  another  glimpse  of  the  mustard  seed  in 
chapter  xiii  becoming  a  great  tree  with  the  birds  flocking 
into  its  branches.  The  evil  servant  and  his  deeds  are 
more  fully  pictured  in  the  church  message  to  Pergamos 
in  the  book  of  Revelation.  But  let  us  pass  lightly  over  the 
fact  that  the  evil  servant  began  by  saying  in  his  heart,  "my 
lord  delayeth  his  coming."  He  may  not  have  been  that 
evil  servant  all  at  once ;  but  as  soon  as  he  said  in  his  heart 
that  the  lord  delays  he  had  taken  the  first  step  towards  be- 
coming corrupt  in  doctrine  and  in  practice.  The  enemy  had 
put  that  foolish  thought  into  his  heart  and  then  led  him  on 
into  the  wickedness  he  practiced. 


223 

And  has  this  no  meaning  for  us?  Indeed  it  has.  God's 
own  Spirit  through  the  Word  has  but  a  few  years  ago  led 
back  to  the  blessed  Hope  and  the  midnight  cry  has  been 
heard,  "Behold  the  bridegroom ;  go  ye  forth  to  meet  Him." 
There  has  been  a  most  powerful  revival  of  the  study  of 
prophecy  and  the  imminency  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  has 
been  taught  and  believed  with  apostolic  simplicity.  It  has 
led  out  and  on  into  true  service  for  Christ.  One  who  be- 
lieves in  the  imminent  coming  of  the  Lord  cannot  help 
himself  from  looking  to  that  Lord  of  being  responsible  to 
Him  for  service  and  wait  on  Him  for  service.  This  has 
been  the  case.  Of  the  large  numbers  of  servants  who  have 
been  used  in  preaching  the  Gospel  and  shepherding  the 
flock  of  Christ,  the  great  majority  have  been  and  are  such 
"who  wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven."  There  is  a  remnant 
of  faithful  ones  who  expect  Him  to  come,  who  wait  for 
Him;  this  expectation  leads  to  faithful  and  happy  service. 
One  can  be  very  happy  indeed  in  serving  the  Lord  with 
the  childlike  but  scriptural  Hope  "He  may  come  to-day." 

The  enemy,  however,  is  not  satisfied  with  having  God's 
people  waiting  for  the  Lord.  He  is  the  author  of  that 
evil  cry,  "my  Lord  delayeth  his  coming."  And  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  producing  it  in  these  days  of  revival  of  the  study 
of  Prophecy.  We  know  some  who  taught  and  believed  the 
imminency  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  All  at  once  their 
voices  were  silent  as  to  the  blessed  Hope.  Why  ?  In  'some 
way  they  became  ensnared  in  teachings  which  put  off  the 
glorious  event  till  after  the  great  tribulation,  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  Antichrist,  etc.,  and  this  unscriptural  view 
silenced  their  testimony  completely.  It  is  sad  to  see  this, 
and  we  fear,  if  our  Lord  tarries,  some,  of  these  men  (as  it 
has  been  already  the  case)  will  act  the  part  of  the  evil 
servant  in  a  still  more  pronounced  way. 

Let  us  beware  of  any  teaching  which  has  even  the  faintest 
insinuation  in  it  of  the  Lord  delaying  his  coming.     It  is 


224 

not  of  God.  Let  us  rather  begin  each  day  with  the  blessed 
expectation  that  He  may  come  to-day  and  then  go  forth  to 
serve  and  be  faithful  to  Him.  But  be  assured  the  enemy 
will  not  rest,  but  find  some  new  and  subtle  way  to  take 
away  the  blessed  Hope  and  the  blessed  expectation,  and  to 
try  and  bring  us  into  conformity  with  the  world.  Only  the 
power  of  God  can  keep  us  in  these  evil  days  in  this  simple 
path  and  that  will  rest  upon  us  as  we  cling  to  Him,  the 
Lord  who  comes.* 


*We  take  the  following  from  a  recent  volume  by  W.  Kelly: 
"Only  let  the  children  of  God  get  clear  of  those  clouds  of  noxious 
and  unwholesome  vapors  that  constantly  rise  up  between  the  Lord 
and  them.  Let  them  cherish  in  their  souls  the  hope  He  gave  them. 
If  you  bring  in  a  millennium  first,  it  is  hard  to  see  Christ's  coming 
clearly;  it  must  act  as  a  veil,  which  dulls  the  hope  of  that  day.  It 
may  not  destroy  the  hope;  yet  one  cannot  but  look  for  His  coming 
in  an  imperfect  manner.  If  you  bring  in  a  great  tribulation  first, 
this  also  lowers  the  outlook  and  enfeebles  the  hope  greatly ;  it 
occupies  one  with  evils  as  they  rise,  produces  a  depressing  effect,  and 
fills  the  heart  with  that  judicial  trouble  and  its  shade  of  desolation. 
They  are  mistakes  of  theorists.  The  one  puts  a  wrong  expectation 
between  you  and  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  kindling  meanwhile  a 
dreamy  excitement  in  waiting  for  that  day.  The  other  case  produces 
a  sort  of  spiritual  nightmare,  an  oppressive  feeling  in  the  thought 
that  the  church  must  go  through  so  dreadful  a  crisis. 

"Be  assured,  my  brethren,  that  the  Scriptures  deliver  us  from  both 
the  dream  and  the  nightmare.  They  entitle  the  believer  to  wait  for 
Christ  as  simply  as  a  child,  being  perfectly  certain  that  God's  word 
is  as  true  as  our  hope  is  blessed.  There  is  to  be  God's  glorious 
kingdom ;  but  the  Lord  Jesus  will  bring  it  in  at  His  coming.  With- 
out doubt  the  great  tribulation  shall  come,  but  not  for  the  Christian. 
When  it  is  a  question  about  the  Jew,  you  can  undersand  it  well; 
for  why  does  the  greatest  tribulation  come  upon  him?  Because  of 
idolatry;  yea,  of  the  Beast  and  the  Antichrist  worshipped.  It  is  for 
him  a  moral  retribution,  with  which  the  Christian  has  nothing 
directly  to  do.  The  predicted  trouble  falls  on  the  apostate  nations 
and  the  Jews.  Those  that  ought  to  be  witnesses  of  Jehovah  and  His 
Christ  will  at  last  fall  into  the  dreadful  snare  of  allowing  the 
abomination  to  be  put  into  the  sanctuary  of  God." 


225 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  second  parable  is  the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins.  It 
is  one  which  is  interpreted  by  students  of  the  prophetic 
Word  in  different  ways ;  we  are  therefore  obliged  to  give 
it  our  closest  attention. 

"Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  be  likened  to 
ten  virgins  that,  having  taken  their  lamps,  went  forth  to 
meet  the  bridegroom.  And  five  of  them  were  prudent  and 
five  foolish.  They  that  were  foolish  took  their  lamps  and 
did  not  take  oil  with  them ;  but  the  prudent  took  oil  in  their 
vessels  with  their  lamps.  Now  the  bridegroom  tarrying, 
they  all  grew  heavy  and  slept.  But  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  there  was  a  cry,  Behold,  the  bridegroom ;  go  forth 
to  meet  him.  Then  all  those  virgins  arose  and  trimmed 
their  lamps.  And  the  foolish  said  to  the  prudent,  Give  us 
of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps  are  going  out.  But  the  prudent 
answered,  saying:  We  cannot,  lest  it  might  not  suffice  for 
us  and  for  you.  Go  rather  to  those  that  'sell  and  buy  for 
yourselves.  But  as  they  went  away  to  buy  the  bridegroom 
came,  and  the  ones  that  were  ready  went  in  with  him  to  the 
wedding  feast,  and  the  door  was  shut.  Afterwards  came 
also  the  rest  of  the  virgins,  saying  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us ; 
but  he  answering,  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  do  not 
know  you.  Watch  therefore,  for  ye  know  not  the  day  nor 
the  hour."  (Verses  1-13.) 

We  have  already  shown  that  these  parables  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  the  Jewish  age  and  the  remnant  of  His 
earthly  people,  which  'stands  out  so  prominently  in  the  first 
part  of  this  discourse.     However,  as  there  is  an  increasing 


226 

tendency  among  teachers  of  Prophecy  to  apply  this  par- 
able of  the  virgins  in  a  Jewish  way,  putting  its  fulfillment 
in  the  time  of  the  great  tribulation,  we  will  be  obliged  to  look 
at  this  view  first  and  show  that  it  is  incorrect.  After  we 
have  done  this  we  shall  be  able  to  better  grasp  the  mean- 
ing of  this  great  parable  and  its  teaching.  The  theory  ad- 
vanced is  the  following: 

The  Lord  begins  His  parable  with  the  word  "then". 
This  word  proves  that  the  parable  refers  to  the  time  of  the 
end  of  the  Jewish  age  for  that  is  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  Then — when? — when  there  is  a  time  of  trouble 
and  the  Lord  is  about  to  come.  The  parable  is  therefore 
applied  by  some  teachers  as  referring  to  the  condition  of 
things  on  the  earth  at  the  close  of  the  great  tribulation. 
"Then"  at  that  time  when  He  returns  after  the  great  trib- 
ulation, 'shall  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  be  like  ten  vir- 
gins. It  is  furthermore  claimed  that  the  ten  virgins  do  not 
represent  the  church,  as  the  Bride  of  Christ.  That  the 
Bride  is  already  with  the  Bridegroom  and  as  the  virgins  are 
not  the  Bride,  but  go  forth  to  meet  th  Bridegroom  who 
comes  with  the  Bride  to  the  wedding  feast,  the  parable  could 
not  be  applied  to  present  conditions ;  the  Bride,  the  church, 
must  be  first  with  the  Bridegroom,  before  the  virgins  can 
go  out  to  meet  Him. 

Another  fact  is  used  to  strengthen  this  exposition.  Some 
of  the  oldest  versions  have  additional  three  words  in  the 
first  verse,  so  that  it  reads :  "Then  shall  the  kingdom  of 
the  heavens  be  made  like  ten  virgins  that  having  their 
torches,  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride." 
The  words  are  found  in  the  Syriac  version  and  also  in  the 
Vulgate.  This  is  generally  taken  to  be  the  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  the  parable  falls  in  its  fulfillment  in  the  close 
of  the  great  tribulation  and  that  the  five  prudent  virgins  are 
the  Jewish  remnant. 


22J 

And  now  we  challenge  this  exposition  as  being  incorrect 
and  contrary  to  Scripture.  Let  us  look  at  the  arguments 
against  it. 

The  use  of  the  word  "then"  proves  the  very  opposite 
from  what  it  is  made  to  prove.  "Then,"  this  little  word, 
has  always  a  great  significance  in  Prophecy.  Now  if  the 
parable  of  the  ten  virgins  would  come  in  at  the  close  of 
the  forty-fourth  verse  in  chapter  xxiv,  the  parable  could 
mean  absolutely  nothing  else  but  an  event  which  is  con- 
nected with  the  end  of  the  geat  tribulation.  We  learned 
that  the  forty-fourth  verse  in  the  preceding  chapter  marked 
the  close  of  the  part  of  the  discourse  in  which  the  Lord 
soeaks  of  the  signs  of  His  coming  and  the  end  of  the  age. 
If  we  were  to  read  in  the  forty-fifth  verse,  "Then  shall  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens  be  likened  to  ten  virgins,  etc.," 
there  would  be  no  other  way  but  to  connect  the  parable  with 
the  mighty  events  which  the  Lord  had  just  described.  It 
would  have  the  same  application  as  the  "then"  in  verse 
forty.  "Then  two  shall  be  in  the  field,  one  is  taken  and 
one  is  left."  But  will  the  reader  notice  as  we  have  shown 
before,  that  with  the  forty-fifth  verse  the  Lord  introduces 
an  entirely  different  theme ;  it  is  no  longer  the  Jewish  end 
of  the  age,  the  Jewish  remnant,  their  suffering  and  deliver- 
ance, no  longer  His  visible  manifestation  out  of  the  heaven's, 
but  it  is  teaching  in  parables  concerning  this  present  Chrisr 
tian  age,  the  Christian  profession.  One  parable  He  had 
spoken,  the  parable  of  the  faithful  and  the  evil  servant. 
How  perfectly  it  applies  to  Christian  conditions  in  this  age, 
the  true  and  the  false,  we  have  seen  in  our  exposition.  The 
"then"  with  which  the  second  parable  begins  is  to  be 
brought  in  connection  with  the  first  parable ;  it  refers  to  the 
same  period  of  time  when  in  the  professing  sphere  of  Chris- 
tendom there  is  a  faithful  servant  and  an  evil  servant,  and 
not  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age. 


228 

A  brief  word  on  the  question  of  the  virgins  representing 
the  Jewish  reminant  and  the  apostate  part  of  the  nation  (in 
the  foolish  virgins)  is  in  order.  We  read  in  the  parable 
of  the  ten  virgins  going  to  sleep  because  the  bridegroom 
tarried.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  going  to  sleep 
happened  on  account  of  the  long  delay  of  the  bridegroom 
and  that  the  virgins  watched  no  longer  for  his  coming. 
It  is  impossible  to  apply  this  to  the  condition  of  things 
during  the  great  tribulation.  It  is  all  out  of  the  question 
to  think  of  the  remnant,  if  that  remnant  is  represented  by 
the  wise  virgins,  as  going  to  sleep,  when  that  remnant, 
as  we  learned  from  Chapter  xxiv  will  preach  the  Gospel 
of  the  Kingdom  and  herald  the  coming  of  the  King.  This 
one  argument  is  'sufficient  to  completely  answer  this  mode 
of  interpretation.  Furthermore  the  remnant  is  not  called 
out  to  go  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  The  virgins  are 
such  who  are  called  out  to  go  forth.  The  remnant  is  the 
opposite.  The  prudent  virgins  have  the  oil,  which  is  a  type 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  they  have  the  supply  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  could  hardly  be  applied  to  the  Jews  before  the  visible 
return  of  the  Lord. 

And  what  about  the  reading  of  some  of  the  old  versions  ? 
There  is  not  sufficient  evidence  that  it  is  genuine.  The 
evidences  against  it  are  two-fold.  The  teaching  that  the 
church  is  the  bride  of  Christ  is  a  subsequent  revelation. 
We  cannot  look  for  it  here,  and  in  the  second  place  it  is 
opposed  to  the  meaning  of  the  parable  itself.  This  parable 
relates  to  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom  and  that  is  why 
there  is  no  need  of  mentioning  the  Bride.  With  this  we 
dismiss  this  theory  that  the  parable  is  one  which  refers  to 
the  Jews  during  the  tribulation. 

Before  we  turn  to  the  exposition  of  the  parable  itself  we 
want  to  mention  another  wrong  interpretation  which  like- 
wise is  gaining  ground  in  these  days.    It  is  taught  that  the 


teg 

five  prudent  virgins  with  the  oil  are  such  who  have  received 
the  fullness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  have  attained  to  a 
high  standard  of  holiness,  who  are  fully  surrendered  and 
are  virgins  indeed,  separated  from  the  world  in  the  highest 
sense.  The  foolish  virgins  are  Christians  too,  but  lack 
the  "higher  life,"  a  phrase  as  unscriptural  as  "the  second 
blessing."  Such  teaching  is  not  alone  confusing  but  it 
aims  finally  at  the  Grace  of  God  and  the  blessed  work  of 
our  Lord.*  We  do  well  to  beware  of  anything  which  mag- 
nifies the  attainments  of  man  and  thereby  obscures  Grace. 
Xo,  the  wise  virgins  do  not  represent  the  select  company 
called  by  some  "the  First  Fruits,"  who  are  filled  with  the 
Spirit  and  are  taken  to  be  with  the  Lord  while  the  foolish 
are  "only  justified  believers"  who  have  to  go  through  the 
tribulation.  The  foolish  virgins  could  not  represent  real 
Christians  for  the  Lord  tells  them  "I  know  you  not:' 

And  now  before  we  look  at  the  parable,  which  is  simple 
indeed,  we  wish  to  remind  the  reader  again,  that  it  is  not 
necessary  that  everything  in  a  parable  be  applied  in  some 
way.  A  parable  is  an  allegorical  representation  illustrating 
some  great  principle.  This  parable  shows  under  the  pic- 
ture of  the  ten  virgins  the  Christian  profession,  the  true 
and  the  false  again  and  yet  in  profession  alike  in  having 
gone  out  to  meet  the  Bridegroom. 

It  must  be  looked  upon  as  referring  first  of  all  to  the 
beginning  of  this  Christian  age.  The  Christian  church 
started  out  so  to  speak  with  this  two-fold  attitude,  separa- 
tion from  the  world  and  in  expectation  of  the  Coming  of 
the  Bridegroom. 

The  teaching  of  Christianity  is  that  such  who.  accept  the 
name  of  Christian  are  to  go  out  and  separate  from  the  old 


*Quite  often  Pslam  xlv  is  used  in  teaching  the  difference  of  the 
Bride  and  the  virgins.  However,  that  Psalm  refers  to  Israel  and  the 
nations. 


2p 

and  go  forth  with  the  purpose  to  meet  the  Bridegroom.  It 
was  so  in  the  beginning.  The  Jews  had  to  go  forth  from 
the  camp  and  the  Gentiles  had  to  turn  to  God  from  their 
idols;  all  waited  for  His  Son  from  heaven  that  blessed 
Hope,  which  was  so  lively  in  the  very  start  of  Christianity. 
The  name  ''virgin"  conveys  the  same  thought  of  separa- 
tion. The  lamps  which  they  had  tell  us  of  another  Chris- 
tian characteristic;  he  is  called  to  give  light.  The  first 
verse  of  the  parable  gives  us  in  a  few  words  that  which 
is  characteristic  of  the  Christian  calling  and  which  was  so 
marked  in  the  beginning.  Going  forth,  that  is  separation 
from  the  world,  going  forth  with  lamps,  to  give  light  and 
shine  and  going  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom,  who  prom- 
ised to  come  again.  Separation,  manifestation  and  ex- 
pectation is  that  in  which  Christianity  consists. 

In  the  next  place  we  read  that  half  of  the  virgins  re- 
presenting the  Christian  profession  were  foolish.  Their 
foolishness  consisted  in  taking  their  lamps,  but  they  took 
no  oil.  However,  their  condition  is  fully  discovered  and 
demonstrated  after"  the  midnight  cry.  The  other  five  were 
wise  and  they  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps. 
What  these  lamps  and  vessels  were  is  best  explained  by 
Edersheim.  He  says :  "The  lamps  consisted  of  round  re- 
ceptacles for  pitch  or  oil  for  the  wick.  This  was  placed 
in  a  hollow  cup  or  deep  saucer,  which  was  fastened  by  a 
pointed  end  into  a  long  wooden  pole,  ■  in  which  it  was 
borne    aloft." 

That  we  have  in  the  division  of  the  ten  virgins,  into 
five  foolish  and  five  wise,  the  false  and  the  true  is  obvious 
enough.  The  five  foolish  virgins  are  representing  such 
who  are  only  professing  Christians,  while  the  five  wise  are 
possessing  Christians,  true  believers.  But  it  may  be  said, 
did  not  the  foolish  virgins  go  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  ? 
In  their  profession  they  certainly  did,  but  that  does  not  make 


them  really  saved  persons.  Everything  later  shows  that 
they  were  unsaved  and  all  their  profession  was  simply  em- 
pty. They  are  the  representatives  of  such  who  have  the 
form  of  godliness  (the  lamps)  but  who  deny  the  power 
thereof,  who  lack  the  power  to  give  out  light  (the  oil). 
And  here  again  is  an  objection.  Did  they  not  later  say 
"give  us  of  your  oil  for  our  lamps  are  going  out?"  Then 
they  must  have  had  some  oil  else  how  could  they  say  that 
the  lamps  were  going  out?  There  is  no  proof  at  all  in 
this  that  they  possessed  oil.  In  the  first  place,  it  says  in 
the  beginning,  "they  took  no  oil" ;  this  in  itself  should 
settle  this  question.  In  their  alarm,  however,  when  the 
cry  of  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom  was  heard  they 
made  an  effort  to  have  shining  lamps.  Who  does  not  know 
that  a  wick  may  be  set  burning  without  oil  to  give  forth  a 
puff  of  smoke  and  then  to  go  out?  This  was  the  case 
with  the  foolish  virgins.  They  never  had  oil  as  the  great 
masses  of  professing  Christians  in  these  days  have  lamps, 
the  form  outwardly,  but  they  have  never  accepted  Christ 
in  the  heart,  and  therefore  the  oil,  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
His  power,  is  lacking.  A  fearful  condition  it  is !  Alas ! 
the  innumerable  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  who 
are  in  this  condition  to-day !  The  wise  virgins  represent 
the  true  believers,  who  not  alone  have  lamps,  but  oil  in  their 
lamps  with  their  vessels.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  present  with 
every  true  child  of  God,  though  he  be  the  weakest  and 
the  least  taught. 

And  now  we  read  of  the  tarrying  of  the  bridegroom 
and  that  both,  the  foolish  and  the  wise,  grew  heavy  and 
slept.  This  has  been  interpreted  in  different  ways,  but 
only  one  interpretation  can  be  made.  The  bridegroom 
tarrying  long  they  did  no  longer  expect  him  and  were 
overcome  by  sleep.  In  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
church  they  all  expected  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  but  as 


2& 

years  went  on  they  gave  up  the  blessed  Hope  and  ceased 
looking  for  the  Lord.  The  sleeping  of  the  virgins  stands 
for  this  fact  that  the  expectancy  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
was  given  up.  Occasionally  during  the  centuries  when 
the  professing  church  had  gone  into  corruption,  there  was 
an  alarm  of  the  coming  judgment  day.  It  was  so  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  century  and  about  the  year  iooo. 
But  it  was  not  a  going  forth  again  to  meet  the  bride- 
groom with  joy,  but  rather  the  opposite,  an  expectation 
of  judgment  and  the  end  of  the  world.  The#priests  then 
made  use  of  the  opportunity  and  the  poor  frightened  peo- 
ple expecting  the  end  of  the  world  handed  over  their 
treasures  to  the  "church."  Aside  from  these  alarms  of  the 
end  of  the  world  the  sleep  continued,  and  instead  of  wait- 
ing for  the  Bridegroom,  going  forth  to  meet  Him,  the 
professing  church,  the  foolish  and  the  wise,  became  oc- 
cupied with  earthly  things,  earthly  power  and  government 
and  the  conversion  of  the  world.  Here  in  this  verse  we 
note  a  'second  period  in  the  history  of  Christendom,  the  per- 
iod in  which  the  return  of  the  Lord  is  not  expected;  they 
all  slept. 

But  now  comes  a  third  period.  "But  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  there  was  a  cry,  Behold  the  Bridegroom,  go  ye  forth 
to  meet  Him."  The  question  is,  has  this  period  been 
reached  or  are  we  to  wait  for  a  startling  cry  of  this  na- 
ture, awaking  the  foolish  and  the  wise,  the  professors  and 
the  possessors?  Some  teach  that  this  midnight  cry  refers 
to  the  shout  of  the  Lord  when  He  comes  into  the  air  (i 
Thess.  iv:i3-i8).  Dear  readers,  we  are  living  in  the 
very  time  of  the  fulfillment  of  this  verse  and  are  facing 
the  soon  coming  of  the  Bridegroom.  The  midnight  cry 
has  been  heard  toward  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  through  mighty  instruments,  though  hum- 
ble, gave  a  revival  of  the  blessed  Hope  and  all  that  which 


*33 

is  connected  with  it.  And  this  cry  is  still  heard,  "Behold  the 
Bridegroom !  ge  ye  forth  to  meet  Him."  The  enemy  would 
silence  this  blessed  word,  but  he  cannot  do  it.  But  notice 
it  is  not  alone  the  announcement  of  the  fact  of  the  coming 
of  the  Bridegroom,  but  it  is  more  than  that.  The  right 
reading  is  to  leave  out  the  word  "cometh"  in  the  author- 
ized version  and  read  simply,  "Behold  the  Bridegroom !" 
The  blessed  Hope  of  His  coining  does  not  so  much  put 
the  coming  before  our  hearts  as  it  does  Himself.  And 
as  we  behold  the  Bridegroom  and  know  He  is  soon  coming, 
how  can  we  help  ourselves  but  to  go  forth  to  meet  Him. 
That  means  then  a  return  to  the  true  Christian  calling, 
which  is  separation  from  the  world,  separation  from  all 
which  is  false  and  unscriptural,  which  dishonors  Him. 
His  person,  His  Work  or  His  Word.  And  this  has  been 
exactly  the  case.  The  midnight  cry  has  awakened  the  true 
believers  to  a  return  to  the  true  position  and  led  on  to  a 
separation  from  that  which  is  evil.  It  is  so  still.  There 
is  of  course  a  preaching  and  teaching  of  Prophecy  which 
does  not  touch  the  conscience,  which  is  only  for  the  head. 
Men  teach  correctly  all  about  the  70  year  weeks  in  Daniel, 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  and  the  millennium,  and  they 
go  on  in  their  evil  ways.  This  is  an  evil  thing.  May  thj 
Lord  keep  us  from  it.  The  midnight  cry  is  given  that 
we  may  go  forth  to  meet  Him  and  be  truly  separated  unto 
Him,  who  is  soon  coming.  And  if  we  have  heard  that 
cry  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  and  are  gone  forth 
to  meet  the  Bridegroom,  we  have  a  responsibility  to  take 
it  up  and  sound  it  forth.  And  now  what  happens  next? 
"Then  all  those  virgins  arose  and  trimmed  their  lamps. 
And  the  foolish  said  to  the  prudent,  Give  us  of  your  oil  for 
our  lamps  are  gone  out.  But  the  prudent  answered  say- 
ing, We  cannot  lest  it  might  not  suffice  for  us  and  for  you. 
Go  rather  to  those  that  sell  and  buy  for  yourselves.     But  as 


they  went  away  the  Bridegroom  came,  and  the  ones  that 
were  ready  went  in  with  Him  to  the  wedding  feast  and  the 
door  was  shut." 

The  midnight  cry  discovers  the  true  condition  of  the  fool- 
ish and  the  wise.  The  foolish  without  oil  running  hither 
and  thither,  the  prudent  calm,  arising,  trimming  their  lamps, 
ready  for  the  Bridegroom.  It  is  a  most  significant  fact  that 
the  blessed  Hope  of  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom,  the  mid- 
night cry,  is  causing  a  separation  between  the  true  and  the 
false.  Those  who  are  the  Lord's  and  have  the  oil  seem  to 
be  attracted  to  Himself  and  love  His  appearing,  while  the 
others,  the  mere  professors,  are  behaving  as  foolishly  as  the 
foolish  virgins  in  the  parable.  We  can  do  no  better  than 
quote  from  the  writings  of  one  of  the  earnest  and  devoted 
men,  who  were  used  under  God,  to  have  a  part  in  giving 
the  midnight  cry.  "Awestricken  come  the  foolish  virgins  to 
the  wise  saying,  'Give  us  of  your  oil,'  but  this  is  beyond  the 
Christian,  and  the  wise  bid  them,  'Go  buy  oil  for  yourselves.' 
There  is  one  who  sells,  but  freely,  without  money  and  with- 
out price,  to  buy  even  from  an  apostle  is  fatal.  The  cry 
was  given  to  revive  the  hope,  as  it  had  the  effect  also  of 
recalling  the  original  and  only  right  attitude  of  the  saints 
toward  Christ.  It  was  enough  to  sever  the  wise  as  alone 
ready  to  act  accordingly.  It  was  too  late  for  the  foolish ; 
who  but  one  could  give  what  they  wanted.  What  is  the 
meaning  of  all  the  recent  agitation?  People  zealous  for 
religious  forms,  who  know  not  really  of  Christianity.  The 
foolish  virgins  are  in  quest  of  the  oil,  leaving  no  stone  un- 
turned to  get  what  they  have  not,  the  one  thing  needful — 
taking  every  way  except  the  right.  The  decking  of  eccles- 
iastical buildings,  the  fantastical  costumes  of  clergymen, 
the  modern  taste  for  church  music,  simply  show  that  the 
foolish  virgins  are  at  work.  They  are  not  in  fit  state  to  meet 
the  Lord  and  fear  it  themselves.     They  are  troubled  with 


235 

the  fumof  of  they  know  not  what.  The  consequence  then 
of  this  midnight  cry  is  that  a  double  activity  is  going  on. 
For  the  Lord  is  awakening  those  who  know  Himself,  and 
are  wise  by  His  Grace  to  go  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom. 
The  others,  if  indirectly  are  none  the  less  powerfully,  but 
in  their  own  way  affected  by  the  cry  and  its  effects,  which 
rise  not  above  nature  and  the  earth."  Utterly  ignorant  of 
the  Grace  of  God,  they  are  trying  to  make  up  by  what  is 
called  "earnestness."  They  know  not  that  they  are  far  from 
God,  yea,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  So  they  think  or 
hope,  that  being  "earnest  they  may  somehow  or  other  get 
right  at  last.     What  delusion  can  be  more  hopeless?" 

And  what  else  might  be  added  to  this?  Religious  activi- 
ties, societies,  endeavors  and  other  things  are  constantly 
multiplying  and  one  can  see  readily  in  much  of  this  the  run- 
ning about  of  the  foolish  virgins.  None  could  take  from 
the  parable  however  that  when  the  midnight  cry  is  heard 
that  an  individual  who  discovers  that  he  has  no  oil,  that  he 
is  not  the  Lord's,  could  not  come  to  Him,  who  is  ready  to 
sell  without  money  and  without  price.  Blessed  be  His 
Name,  He  stands  ready  to  the  very  last  moment  to  give  the 
oil,  fulfilling  to  the  last  moment  while  He  tarrieth  His  own 
gracious  word,  "He  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  The  trouble  however  with  the  foolish  virgins  is 
(hey  do  not  want  to  come  to  HIM  to  buy  of  Him,  but  rather 
go  on  in  their  own  natural,  foolish  way. 

And  now  comes  the  last  stage  of  this  parable.  The  Bride- 
groom comes.  The  prudent  enter  in,  the  foolish  are  shut 
out.  The  door  was  shut.  Oh,  solemn,  solemn  word !  The 
door  was  shut !  How  soon  all  this  may  be  a  reality.  The 
midnight  brought  the  cry ;  now  we  are  facing  the  dawn  of 
the  morning.  We  are  in  the  fourth  watch.  Soon  He  will 
come  and  all  who  are  saved  by  Grace,  though  they  may  be 
ignorant  of  His  premillennial  coming,  or  sadly  lacking  in 


236 

other  respects,  will  go  in  to  the  wedding  feast.  All  others, 
who  are  not  saved,  will  be  shut  out.  It  is  a  final  judgment. 
They  can  never  enter  in.  "I  know  you  not,"  is  all  they  hear. 
"Watch  therefore,  for  you  know  not  the  day  nor  the  hour." 
Reader!    Are  you  ready? 

And  now  we  come  to  the  third  parable.    This  parable  con- 
cludes the  second  part  of  the  Olivet  discourse.    "For  it  is  as 
if  a  man  going  away  out  of  a  country  called  his  bondsmen 
and  delivered  to  them  his  substance.     And  to  one  he  gave 
five  talents,  to  another  two,  and  to  another  one,  to  each  ac- 
cording to  his  particular  ability,  and  immediately  went  away 
out  of  the  country.    And  he  that  had  received  the  five  talents 
went  and  trafficked  with  them,  and  made  five  other  talents. 
In  like  manner  also  he  that  had  received  the  two,  he  also 
gained  two  others.     But  he  that  had  received  the  one  went 
and  dug  in  the  earth  and  hid  the  money  of  his  lord.     After 
a  long  time  the  lord  of  those  bondmen  comes  and  reckons 
with  them.    And  he  that  had  received  the  five  talents  came 
to  him  and  brought  five  other  talents,  saying,  My  lord,  thou 
deliveredst  me  five  talents ;  behold  I  have  gained  five  other 
talents  besides  them.     His  lord  said  to  him,  Well,  good  and 
faithful  bondman ;  thou  wast  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I 
will  set  thee  over  many  things;  enter  into  the  joy  of  thy 
lord.     And  he  also  that  had  received  the  two  talents  came 
to  him  and  said,  My  lord,  thou  deliveredst  me  two  talents ; 
behold  I  have  gained  two  other  talents  besides  them.     His 
lord  said  to  him,  Well,  good  and   faithful  bondman,  thou 
wast  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  set  thee  over  many 
things ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord.     And  he  also 
that  had  received  the  one  talent  coming  to  him  said,  My 
lord,  I  know  thee  that  thou  are  at  hard  man,  reaping  where 
thou  hast  not  sowed,  and  gathering  from  where  thou  hadst 
not  scattered,  and  being  afraid   I  went  away  and  hid  thy 
talent  in  the  earth;  behold  thou  hast  that  which  is  thine. 


*Z7 

And  his  lord  answering  said  to  him,  Wicked  and  sloth- 
ful bondman,  thou  knewest  that  I  reap  where  I  had  not 
sowed,  and  gathered  from  where  I  had  not  scattered;  thou 
oughtest  then  to  have  put  my  money  to  the  money  changers, 
and  when  I  came  I  should  have  got  what  is  mine  with  in- 
terest. Take  therefore  the  talent  from  him,  and  give  it  to 
him  that  has  the  ten  talents ;  for  to  every  one  that  has  shall 
be  given,  and  he  shall  be  in  abundance;  but  from  him  that 
has  not,  that  even  which  he  has  shall  be  taken  from  him. 
And  cast  out  the  useless  bondman  into  the  outer  darkness ; 
there  shall  be  the  weeping  and  the  gnashing  of  teeth"  (ver- 
ses 14-30). 

This  parable  is  not  identical  with  the  one  which  is  re- 
corded in  the  Gospel  of  Luke  (chapter  xix  112-27) .  The 
one  in  Luke,  the  parable  of  the  ten  pounds,  was  uttered 
before  the  last  visit  to  Jerusalem ;  the  one  here  in  Matthew 
when  His  visit  was  almost  ended.  The  parable  in  Luke  has 
more  to  do  with  the  rewards  in  the  Kingdom  and  has  its 
special  application  into  which  we  do  not  enter  here.  The 
parable  here,  following  that  of  the  ten  virgins,  shows„us  the 
same  period  of  time,  when  the  Lord  is  not  present.  We  see 
in  it  again  the  responsibility  which  man  has,  in  possession  of 
the  gifts  which  the  absent  Lord  has  bestowed  and  how  the 
gifts  may  either  be  used  or  not  used  and  that  when  He  comes 
again  the  good  and  faithful  servant  will  have  an  abundant 
entrance  into  the  joy  of  His  Lord,  while  the  unprofitable 
servant  is  cast  out. 

The  difficulty  in  this  parable  seems  to  have  always  been 
the  servant  who  received  the  one  talent.  The  teaching  which 
is  often,  or  rather  generally  given  from  his  case,  is  one 
which  is  positively  unscriptural.  It  is  taught  that  he,  as  a 
believer  and  servant  of  Christ,  did  not  make  use  of  his 
talent  and  that  all  Christian  believers  who  act  in  the  same 
way,  must  share  his  fate.    Upon  this  conception,  believers 


238 

ere  exhorted  to  faithfulness,  to  be  diligent  and  use  that 
which  the  Lord  has  given  to  them,  in  case  they  do  not,  they 
will  surely  be  cast  out  into  the  outer  darkness  where  there 
is  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  According  to  this  teach- 
ing final  salvation  depends  not  upon  the  work  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  upon  the  cross,  but  upon  the  faithfulness  of  the 
believer  and  upon  the  use  of  what  he  has  received.  LIow 
this  thought  can  be  enlarged  is  easily  seen.  Some  say,  in- 
deed, that  every  human  being  has  some  talent,  even  if  it  is 
a  very  small  one,  some  light,  something  good,  and  if  it  is 
used,  improved,  that  little  good  developed,  it  will  result  in 
salvation.  That  all  such  teaching  is  wicked  and  strikes  at 
the  very  fundamentals  of  the  blessed  Gospel,  is  seen  at  the 
first  glance.  How  can  we  reconcile  the  teaching  of  the 
Gospel  of  Grace  with  the  case  of  the  unprofitable  servant  in 
this  parable?  There  is  no  need  of  attempting  to  reconcile 
it,  for  the  one  who  had  received  the  one  talent  and  who  hid 
it  does  not  represent  a  true  believer  at  all.  To  verify  this 
we  only  need  to  hear  what  he  has  to  say,  what  excuse  lie 
rives  for  having  put  away  the  talent.  His  words  discover 
his  true  condition.  He  was  far  from  being  a  true  servant 
with  a  heart  full  of  confidence  and  love.  He  is  the  very 
opposite.  He  did  not  trust  the  Lord  at  all,  and  with  his 
words  he  accuses  the  Lord  of  being  a  hard  master.  Surely 
a  true  believer  could  never  say  such  words  about  his  graci- 
ous Lord.  That  he  did  not  use  the  talent  at  all  and  then 
upon  his  idleness  accuses  the  Lord  unjustly  is  proof  enough 
that  the  man  represents  a  mere  professing  servant.  What 
the  Lord  had  put  at  Jiis  disposal  he  had  refused  by  not  using 
it. 

The  whole  parable,  aside  from  the  case  of  the  unprofitable 
servant,  is  not  difficult  to  understand.  We  must,  however. 
be  careful  to  avoid  the  thought  that  the  talents,  the  five 
talents  and  the  two  talents,  are  things  like  earthly  posses- 


239 

sions,  mental  faculties,  such  as  a  good  memory,  a  keen, 
logical  mind,  or  a  robust  body.  That  all  these  are  blessings 
and  gifts  of  God  none  would  doubt.  The  talents  are  His 
goods  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  servants  when  He 
went  away.  However  natural  endowments  are  considered 
in  the  distribution  of  the  gifts.  To  each  is  given  "accord- 
ing to  his  particular  ability."  His  own  divine  wisdom  mani- 
fests itself  in  the  bestowal  of  these  talents.  There  is  no  true 
servant  of  Christ  who  is  left  without  a  gift.  The  absent 
Lord  has  given  to  each  according  to  their  ability. 

Another  great  principle  which  this  parable  teaches  is  that 
the  gift  can  be  enlarged  and  increased.  The  two  trafficked 
with  the  talents  and  doubled  them.  Exercise  of  any  gift, 
no  matter  how  small  it  is,  will  increase  that  gift  and  there 
will  be  gain,  which  of  necessity  is  gain  first  of  all  for  the 
Lord  Himself.  It  will  be  for  Him,  as  these  servants  laid 
before  Him  what  they  had  received  and  what  they  had 
gained. 

However,  the  distinction  between  the  parable  of  the  pru- 
dent servant  and  the  evil  servant  at  the  close  of  chapter 
xxiv  must  also  be  maintained.  The  sphere  of  the  prudent 
servant  was  narrower.  He  had  to  give  meat  in  season  to 
the  household.  The  talents  here  are  to  be  used  in  a  wider 
sphere.  Just  as  the  merchant  who  trafficks  and  wishes  to 
gain  goes  outside,  the  servant  of  Christ  is  to  use  that  the 
Lord  has  given  to  him  according  to  his  natural  ability  and 
as  he  uses  it,  whether  it  is  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  or 
labor  among  God's  people,  it  will  increase. 

And  then  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  and  how  He  dealt  with 
the  good  and  faithful  servants  brings  out  another  principle. 
Each  receives  a  reward.  To  each  the  Lord  saith,  "Well, 
good  and  faithful  bondman,  thou  wast  faithful  over  few 
things,  I  will  set  thee  over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord."     He  does  not  speak  a  higher  and  better 


240 

word  of  approval  to  the  one  who  had  the  five  talents  and 
brought  him  five  other  talents.  Both  hear  the  same  word 
of  approval.  It  is  therefore  not  the  question  of  how  much 
we  have  received  of  the  Lord,  but  how  we  use  that  which 
Fie  has  given  to  us.  Faithful  service,  even  in  the  smallest 
matter,  though  there  be  but  one  talent,  will  bring  approval. 

To  fully  understand  "the  setting  over  many  things,"  and 
what  it  is  "to  enter  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord"  we  shall  have 
to  wait  until  we  stand  in  His  own  glorious  presence  and  see 
Him  face  to  face. 

May  this  parable,  like  the  preceding  ones,  urge  us  on  as 
true  believers  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord.  Soon  He  will 
come.  Soon  we  shall  appear  before  His  judgment  seat  to 
give  an  account.  May  we  all  use  what  He  has  given  and 
use  it  with  confidence  in  Him  and  with  Love  for  Him. 

In  the  closing  verses  of  this  chapter  (v.  31-46),  we  find 
the  third  part  of  the  great  prophetic  discourse  of  our  Lord. 
It  relates  to  the  Gentiles.  Quite  often  this  part  is  spoken 
of  by  expositors  as  a  parable,  just  as  some  call  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  future  state  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  in  Luke  xvi, 
a  parable.  But  neither  is  a  parable.  Both  are  solemn  de- 
scriptions of  events  and  conditions  which  are  real. 

The  King  here  gives  us  the  picture  of  a  great  judgment, 
which  He  Himself  conducts  while  He  occupies  the  throne 
of  His  glory. 

"But  when  the  Son  of  man  comes,  and  all  the  angels  with 
Him,  Lhen  shall  He  sit  upon  His  throne  of  glory,  and  all  the 
nations  shall  be  gathered  before  Him ;  and  He  shall  sepa- 
rate them  one  from  another,  as  the  shepherd  separates  the 
sheep  from  the  goats ;  and  He  will  set  the  sheep  on  His 
right  hand,  and  the  goats  on  His  left"   (v.  31-33). 

It  is  evident  that  these  words  must  be  connected  with 
chapter  xxiv  130,  31.  The  scene  takes  place  after  His  visible 
and  glorious  appearing  as  Son  of  Man  and  after  His  elect 


241 

(the  remnant  of  His  earthly  people;  that  is,  the  "all  Israel") 
have  been  gathered.  Leaving  out  the  central  portion  of  the 
discourse,  the  three  parables,  relating  to  the  Christian  pro- 
fession, we  have  in  chapter  xxiv  13-41  and  chapter  xxv:3i- 
46  chronological  events  relating  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish 
age  and  the  judgment  which  follows  immediately  after  the 
Lord  has  come. 

And  will  He  occupy  a  literal  throne?  Some  take  it  as 
being  only  a  picture.  But  such  a  conception  is  totally  wrong 
and  dangerous.  The  angels  will  also  appear  with  Him  and 
will  be  seen  by  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth ;  what  reason  could 
be  given  that  the  throne,  which  He  occupies,  is  a  spiritual 
throne?  No,  the  throne  will  be  a  literal  throne,  and  it  will 
be  "His  throne  of  Glory."  To  this  same  throne  He  referred 
when  He  answered  Peter  in  chapter  xix  128,  "And  Jesus 
said  to  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  who  have  fol- 
lowed me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
sit  down  upon  His  throne  of  Glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  on 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  The 
"Regeneration,"  the  "Paligenesia"  of  the  coming  age,  be- 
gins with  His  second  visible  coming,  and  the  first  great 
event  which  takes  place  after  He  has  sat  down  upon  His 
own  throne  will  be  the  judgment,  as  described  by  Himself 
in  this  part  of  the  discourse. 

The  church  is  not  seen  here  in  Matthew.  He  will  bring 
His  own  with  Him  and  the  church  will  take  part  in  the 
scene  pictured  here  as  well  as  in  the  government  of  the  earth 
and  the  universe.  "Do  ye  not  know  that  the  Saints  shall 
judge  the  world?"  (1  Cor.  vi:2).  The  angels  will  have  their 
definite  work  in  this  judgment  scene  (Matt.  xiii:4i-42). 
The  question  which  arises  now  is  who  the  persons  are,  who 
will  be  judged.  What  judgment  is  it,  which  the  Lord  here 
describes?'  There  should  be  little  difficulty  in  ascertaining 
this  and  the  person  who  closely  adheres  to  the  text,  without 


242 

consulting  the  traditional  views  of  the  professing  church 
will  see  at  a  glance  who  will  be  judged.  The  Lord  says 
"all  nations"  will  be  gathered  before  Him.  The  persons 
judged  must  therefore  be  the  nations,  which  are  living  in 
the  day  when  the  Lord  appears  in  His  Glory. 

This  excludes  at  once  the  true  church.  The  church  is 
with  Him.  No  such  judgment  can  be  for  the  true  church. 
The  judgment  seat  of  Christ  (not  of  the  Son  of  man)  be- 
fore which  all  true  believers  have  to  appear,  either  for 
approval  or  disapproval,  is  when  this  judgment  of  the  na- 
tions takes  place,  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  judgment  seat 
of  Christ,  before  which  believers  have  to  appear,  is  not  upon 
the  earth,  but  in  the  air,  in  the  place  to  which  the  church 
had  been  caught  up. 

Generally  the  great  scene  our  Lord  unfolds  here  of  this 
judgment  of  the  living  nations  is  applied  to  a  universal 
judgment.  Such  a  judgment  in  which  Jews,  Christians, 
saved  and  unsaved,  every  member  of  the  human  race,  all 
the  heathen  will  participate  is  often  preached  from  this 
passage,  and  another  judgment  scene,  which  is  recorded  in 
Rev.  xx:ii- 1 5  is  strangely  identified  with  this  one.  We  say 
at  once  there  is  not  a  line  of  Scripture  which  teaches  such  a 
universal  judgment  and  no  line  of  Scripture  which  teaches 
a  universal  resurrection,  which  is  also  taught  by  those  who 
teach  a  general  judgment.  We  repeat,  a  general  judgment 
and  a  general  resurrection  is  nowhere  taught  in  the  Word 
of  God.  However,  we  do  not  want  our  readers  to  think  that 
we  deny  judgment  and  resurrection.  We  fully  believe  that 
every  person  who  ever  lived  will  be  judged  at  some  time, 
and  every  person  who  lived  on  this  earth  and  died  will  be 
raised  from  the  dead ;  but  there  are  different  judgments 
and  two  distinct  resurrections. 

If  we  turn  to  Rev.  xx:ii-I5,   the  passage  which  is  so 
often  quoted  with  Matt.  xxv:3i~46,  we  find  it  totally  dif- 


243 

ferent  from  the  judgment  scene  which  our  Lord  describes 
here  in  His  Olivet  discourse.  In  Rev.  xx  we  do  not  behold 
a  throne  of  Glory  upon  which  the  Son  of  Man  sitteth,  but 
it  is  a  great  white  throne.  Nor  does  that  great  white 
throne  stand  upon  the  earth  as  in  Matt,  xxv,  but  the  earth 
and  heaven  fled  away  and  there  was  no  place  found  for 
them.  The  subjects  of  the  great  white  throne  judgment 
are  not  living  nations,  but  "the  dead."  As  the  context 
shows  the  nations,  which  were  rebellious  at  the  end  of  the 
thousand  years  were  devoured  by  the  fire  from  God  out  of 
heaven  (verse  9).  The  great  white  throne  judgment  is 
that  of  the  wicked  dead  and  their  eternal  abiding  place  will 
be  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second  resurrection  or  the 
resurrection  of  the  unjust  as  our  Lord  calls  it  in  John  v. 

There  is  a  first  resurrection  in  which  all  the  saved  have 
a  share,  which  begins  when  the  Lord  comes  for  His  Saints, 
and  the  dead  in  Christ  rise  first  and  we  which  are  alive  are 
caught  up  together  with  them  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air 
(1  Thess.  iv  115-17).  To  this  first  resurrection  belong  like- 
wise the  martyrs  during  the  great  tribulation.  All  this  is 
made  clear  by  a  few  verses  in  the  20th  chapter  of  Revela- 
tion. "And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
judgment  was  given  unto  them ;  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them 
that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the 
Word  of  God,  and  which  had  not  worshipped  the  beast, 
neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  their 
foreheads,  or  in  their  hands ;  and  they  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived 
not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is 
the  first  resurrection"  (Rev.  xx  14,  5).  This  proves  clearly 
that  there  are  two  resurrection's,  one  of  the  just  and  the 
other  of  the  unjust,  and  they  occur  not  at  the  same  time., 
but  there,  is  a  space  of  a  thousand  years  between  them. 

Again  let  us  remember  that  it  is  said  of  all  such  who 


244 

have  believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  they  have  ever- 
lasting lift  and  shall  not  come  into  judgment.  For  the  true 
believer  there  is  no  judgment,  because  the  Lord  Jesus  pas- 
sed on  the  cross  through  the  judgment  as  his  substitute. 
The  judgment  seat  of  Christ  of  which  we  read  in  i  Cor.  v 
and  before  which  all  have  to  appear  who  are  Christ's,  con- 
cerns works,  service,  rewards,  etc.,  and  not  an  eternal  des- 
tiny. 

In  our  passage  here  an  entirely  different  judgment  is 
described.  Not  a  word  or  a  hint  is  given  about  resurrection ; 
in  fact,  there  is  no  resurrection  at  all  in  connection  with  the 
event  pictured  by  the  Lord.  When  He  comes  in  His  Glory. 
His  church  with  Him,  attended  by  the  holy  angels,  He  finds 
upon  the  earth  His  own  earthly  people  Israel.  The  Israel 
which  is  left  and  passed  through  the  fire  and  great  tribula- 
tion has  received  Him  as  Redeemer  and  King  and  He 
turned  ungodliness  from  Jacob.  But  He  also  finds  living 
nations  on  the  earth  and  these  nations  will  be  'separated  by 
the  Son  of  Man  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory.  They 
will  be  parted  by  Him  and  the  sheep  put  at  His  right  hand 
and  the  goats  at  His  left. 

The  place  of  the  judgment  of  these  living  nations  will  no 
doubt  be  the  land  of  Israel. 

Zech.  xiv:i~5  and  Joel  iii  throws  light  upon  this  judgment 
scene.  Let  us  then  bear  this  clearly  in  mind.  Matt,  xxv  :- 
31-46  describes  a  judgment,  which  takes  place  immediately 
after  the  Lord's  second  coming  in  power  and  in  glory.  The 
persons  concerned  in  it  are  not  Jews,  nor  the  church,  ncr 
the  dead,  but  the  nations  which  are  living  in  that  day.  And 
now  after  the  separation  has  taken  place  the  King  speaks  : 
'Then  shall  the  King  say  to  those  at  His  right  hand,  Come 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  world's  foundation ;  for  I  hungered  and  you  gave 
me  to  eat ;  I  thirsted  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger 


245 

and  ye  took  me  in ;  naked  and  ye  clothed  me ;  I  was  ill  and 
ye  visited  me;  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  to  me.  Then 
shall  the  righteous  answer  Him  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we 
Thee  hungering,  and  nourished  Thee ;  or  thirsting  and  gave 
Thee  to  drink  ?  and  when  saw  we  Thee  a  stranger  and  took 
Thee  in ;  or  naked  and  clothed  Thee  ?  and  when  saw  we 
Thee  ill  or  in  prison  and  came  to  Thee  ?  And  the  King  an- 
swering shall  say  to  them,  Verily,  I  say  to  you,  inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  to  me.  Then  shall  He  also  say  to  those  on 
the  left,  Go  from  me  cursed  into  eternal  fire,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels ;  for  I  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me 
not  to  eat;  thirsted  and  ye  gave  me  not  to  drink;  I  was  a 
stranger  and  ye  took  me  not  in ;  naked  and  ye  did  not  clothe 
me ;  ill  and  in  prison  and  ye  did  not  visit  me.  Then  shall 
they  also  answer  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  Thee  hunger- 
ing, or  thirsting,  or  a  stranger  or  naked,  or  ill,  or  in  prison, 
and  have  not  ministered  to  Thee?  Then  shall  He  answer 
them  saying,  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  have 
not  done  it  to  one  of  these  least,  neither  have  ye  done  it  to 
me.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment,  and 
the  righteous  into  eternal  life." 

And  now  in  the  first  place,  Who  are  the  nations  who  are 
righteous  and  who  figure  here  as  sheep?  That  they  do  not 
represent  the  church  and  are  not  church  saints,  members 
of  the  one  body,  we  have  already  demonstrated.  It  can 
easily  be  proven  from  the  text  itself.  The  righteous  nations 
are  called  "the  blessed  of  the  Father,"  believers  who  con- 
stitute the  church  are  more  than  blessed  of  the  Father,  they 
are  in  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  These  na- 
tions inherit  a  kingdom  which  is  prepared  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.  The  inheritance  of  the  church  is  higher 
than  that.  Our  inheritance  is  with  Himself.  We  are  the 
joint  heirs  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Furthermore  of  the 


246 

church  it  is  said  that  God  has  chosen  us  in  Him  "before  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  Other  proofs  that  these  nations 
do  not  represent  the  church  we  pass  by. 

These  nations  are  saved  nations  and  their  acts  of  right- 
eousness are  given  here.  They  were  merciful  to  the  least  of 
the  King's  brethren ;  they  fed  them,  gave  them  to  drink, 
clothed  them  and  visited  them.  What  they  did  to  the 
Brethren  of  the  King,  they  did  unto  Him. 

How  great  the  confusion  is  among  Christians  on  the 
meaning  of  these  words !  Often  the  interpretation  given 
strikes  at  the  very  fundamentals  of  the  Gospel.  Generally 
charitable  acts,  such  as  hospitals  and  prison  work,  feeding 
the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked  in  connection  with  church 
work  or  philanthropic  institutions,  are  thought  to  be  meant 
by  our  Lord. 

If  any  one  does  these  things  and  is  faithful  in  them  the 
King  will  approve  of  them  in  the  judgment  and  many  a  soul 
builds  upon  this  foundation  of  sand.  All  this  is  absolutely 
wrong.     The  works  have  an  entirely  different  meaning. 

Who  are  the  Brethren  of  the  King  whom  these  righteous 
nations  treated  with  such  kindness  and  mercy?  They  are 
the  brethren  of  the  Lord  according  to  the  flesh,  in  other 
words  they  are  Jews.  If  this  is  grasped,  the  whole  judg- 
ment, the  righteousness  of  the  nations  at  the  King's  right 
hand  and  the  unrighteousness  of  the  others,  the  goats,  will 
be  clear. 

Let  the  reader  turn  back  to  the  first  part  of  this  discourse. 
There  we  read,  "And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations,  and 
then  shall  the  end  come."  What  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
is,  when  this  Gospel  is  to  be  preached  (during  the  great 
tribulation),  who  is  going  to  preach  this  last  great  witness 
we  have  shown  at  length  in  our  exposition  of  the  preceding 
chapter.     The   preaching  of   the   Gospel  of   the   kingdom 


247 

among  all  nations  takes  place  during  the  end  of  the  age. 
Up  to  this  time  this  Gospel  is  not  yet  preached.  The 
preachers  of  this  Gospel  during  the  ending  years  of  the 
Jewish  age  will  be  the  Jewish  remnant.  These  are  "Breth- 
ren" of  our  Lord  according  to  the  flesh.  They  will  move 
among  the  nations  of  the  world  and  give  their  startling 
witness  in  the  proclamation  of  that  Gospel,  which  will  herald 
the  nearness  of  the  coming  of  the  King  and  the  Kingdom. 
How  will  they  be  received  among  the  nations  ?  Will  their 
testimony  be  universally  believed  or  will  it  be  rejected? 
The  words  of  our  Lord  here  at  the  close  of  the  discourse 
give  us  the  answer. 

Some  of  the  nations  will  receive  their  testimony.  They 
believe  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  this  last  great  witness. 
They  manifest  the  genuineness  of  their  faith  by  works. 
The  preachers  who  are  going  about  are  prosecuted  and 
hated  by  others,  suffering,  hungry,  and  some  cast  into  pri- 
son. These  nations  who  believe  their  testimony  show  their 
faith  by  giving  them  to  eat,  clothing  them,  visiting  them  in 
prison,  and  by  showing  love  to  them.  The  case  of  Rahab 
may  be  looked  upon  as  a  typical  foreshadowing.  She  be- 
lieved. It  was  at  a  time  when  the  judgment  was  gathering 
over  Jericho  (the  type  of  the  world).  "By  faith  the  harlot 
Rahab  perished  not  with  them  that  believed  not,  when  she 
had  received  the  spies  with  peace."  And  again  it  is  written 
of  her,  "Likewise  also  was  Rahab  the  harlot  justified  by 
works,  when  she  had  received  the  messengers,  and  had  sent 
them  out  another  way?"  She  had  faith  and  manifested  it 
by  works.  And  'so  these  nations  believe  the  messengers  and 
treat  them  in  kindness.  Grace  thus  covers  them  because 
they  believed. 

They  enter  into  the  Kingdom  and  inherit  the  same ;  as 
righteous  they  go  into  eternal  life.  In  other  words,  they 
remain  throughout  the  kingdom  age  on  the  earth  and  pass 


24$ 

on  into  the  eternal  state.  That  they  will  occupy  with  saved 
Israel  a  special  position  in  the  Kingdom  we  fully  believe; 
nor  can  they  share  the  revolt  which  takes  place  after  the 
thousand  years,  when  Satan  is  loosed  for  a  little  while. 

The  question  may  arise  who  these  nations  are,  who  will 
receive  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  This  can  hardly  be 
answered  now.  One  thing  seem's  certain  that  the  nations 
which  heard  the  Gospel  of  Grace  preached,  who  had  a 
chance  to  believe  will  not  have  another  chance*  to  accept 
the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.   . 

And  now  the  other  side.  There  are  nations  in  the  pres- 
ence of  that  throne  of  Glory  who  will  be  put  at  the  left  side 
of  the  King.  The  messengers  came  to  them  and  they  re- 
fused to  believe  their  message  and  because  they  did  not 
believe  they  did  not  treat  the  messengers  in  kindness  and 
mercy.  These  nations  continued  in  wickedness  and  unbe- 
lief; they  rejected  the  last  offer,  and  now  their  eternal  des- 
tiny is  to  be  forever  settled.  The  King  says  unto  them, 
"Go  from  Me,  cursed,  into  eternal  fire,  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels."  At  the  close  the  Lord  says,  "And 
these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment."  How  solemn 
are  these  words !  Awful  words !  Go  from  Me !  And  where 
to?  Into  eternal  fire.  He  does  not  say  "Cursed  of  my 
Father,"  but  simply  "Cursed."  The  Father  does  not 
"Curse ;"  He  does  not  want  any  one  to  be  in  the  place  of 
eternal  distance  and  darkness.  Nor  is  the  place,  the  eternal 
fire,  prepared  for  these  nations,  but  it  is  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels.  By  rejecting  God's  love  and  mercy, 
by  continuing  in  unbelief  diey  sided  with  the  devil  and  his 
angels  and  now  there  is  no  other  remedy  for  them  but  to 
share  for  all  eternity  the  place  prepared  for  the  devil  and 


*We  are  sorry  to  find  this  unscriptural  theory  of  a  second  chance 
spreading  in  our  day  among  many  good  people.    Beware  of  it! 


249 

his  angels.  At  the  close  of  the  thousand  years  the  devil  is 
put  into  the  lake  of  fire  (Rev.  xx  :io).  Previously  the  beast 
and  the  false  prophet  were  cast  into  that  place  before  the 
millennium  (Rev.  xix:2o).  The  order  of  punishment  then 
is  the  following:  i.  The  beast  and  the  false  prophet.  2. 
The  unrighteous  nations.  These  go  there  before  the  mil- 
lennial kingdom.  3.  The  devil  with  his  angels.  4.  The 
wicked  dead  from  the  great  white  throne  judgment.  This 
takes  place  after  the  thousand  years.  Oh  !  the  folly  which 
tries  to  explain  away  the  eternity  of  punishment  of  the 
wicked.  Yet  this  is  done  in  our  present  day  as  never  be- 
fore. God  is  too  good,  too  merciful  to  do  that ;  and  others 
claim  that  while  there  is  punishment,  it  is  not  eternal,  but 
only  age  abiding.  All  these  fanciful,  philosophical  theories, 
so  popular  in  our  day,  are  completely  answered  by  the  sol- 
emn words  of  our  Lord,  "And  these  shall  go  away  into 
ETERNAL  punishment,  and  the  righteous  into  ETER- 
NAL life." 

Thus  ends  the  last  great  discourse  of  the  King  in  this 
Gospel  and  ere  long  all  that  which  He  predicted,  sitting 
upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  will  be  reality.  Reader !  Let 
us  live  in  the  light  of  these  solemn  truths. 


250 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  great  last  discourse  of  the  King  being  ended  there 
remains  now  nothing  else  to  record  than  the  story  of  His 
passion,  His  suffering,  death  and  resurrection.  This  is  the 
record  of  the  remaining  three  chapters  of  the  first  Gospel. 
Two  of  these  are  the  longest  in  the  whole  book.  He  had 
foretold  in  His  great  prophecy  in  the  Olivet  discourse  the 
future  of  the  Jews,  the  Christian  profession  and  the  future 
of  the  nations.  Now  He  is  to  go  and  fulfill  all  the  pre- 
dictions concerning  His  sufferings  and  death,  as  written  in 
Moses,  the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms.  The  twenty-sixth 
chapter,  which  we  shall  follow  briefly,  is  one  of  contrasts. 
Here  we  behold  Him  in  all  His  wonderful  perfection  again. 
With  what  calmness  and  dignity  He  enters  upon  that  great 
work,  which  the  Father  gave  Him  to  do.  On  the  other  hand 
we  see  wickedness  and  Satanic  powers  revealed  which  now 
cast  themselves  in  all  their  fury  upon  the  holy  One.  What 
a  wonderful  story  it  is  which  we  have  followed  in  this  first 
Gospel.  How  marvelous  the  events  and  how  perfect  and 
divine  the  entire  arrangement !  Man  could  never  have  writ- 
ten such  an  account. 

This  chapter  tells  us  of  seven  events,  which  we  hope 
to  follow  in  their  order.  These  are  the  following:  I. — 
The  last  prediction  of  His  suffering  and  death  (verses  1-5). 
2. — His  anointing  in  the  house  of  Simon,  the  leper,  in 
Bethany  (verses  6-13).  3. — Judas  betrays  Him  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  (verses  14-16).  4. — The  account  of  the  pass- 
over  meal  and  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper  (verses 


251 

17-35) •  5- — The  agony  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
(verses  36-46).  6. — His  capture  and  the  accusations  and 
sufferings  before  Caiaphas,  the  high  priest  (verses  47-68). 
7. — The  denial  of  Peter   (69-75). 

"And  it  came  to  pass  when  Jesus  had  finished  all  these 
sayings,  He  said  to  His  disciples,  Ye  know  that  after  two 
days  the  Passover  takes  place  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  deliv- 
ered up  to  be  crucified.  Then  the  chief  priests  and  the  elders 
of  the  people  were  gathered  together  to  the  palace  of  the 
high  priest,  who  was  called  Caiaphas,  and  took  counsel 
together,  in  order  that  they  might  seize  Jesus  by  subtlety 
and  kill  Him ;  but  they  said,  Not  in  the  feast,  that  there  be 
not  a  tumult  among  the  people"  (verses  1-5). 

We  notice  first  of  all  the  last  prediction  of  His  death. 
This  is  the  fourth  time  He  predicts  His  death  in  this  Gospel. 
He  not  only  predicts  the  manner  of  His  death,  but  now  also 
the  time ;  He  is  to  be  crucified  at  the  time  of  the  Passover. 
All  this  manifests  His  Deity.  He  knew  all  beforehand.  Let 
none  think  that  all  that  which  was  before  Him  dawned 
upon  Him  gradually ;  He  knew  every  one  of  the  sufferings 
and  all  that  which  was  now  to  come  upon  His  holy  head. 
But  what  calmness  breathes  in  these  words,  in  which  He 
predicted  His  coming  crucifixion !  There  is  no  anxiety, 
no  concern  about  anything,  but  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that 
sent  Him  and  to  give  Himself  as  the  true  passover  Lamb. 

No  sooner  is  this  announcement  made  and  heard  from 
His  lips  then  the  enemy  becomes  also  busy.  He  would 
hinder  this  divine  purpose  that  the  great  sacrifice  should 
be  brought  at  the  predicted  time.  If  he  could  not  keep 
Him  from  going  to  the  cross,  he  would  attempt,  at  least, 
to  mar  the  fullest  meaning  of  that  death.  The  chief  priests 
and  the  elders  g,re  now  together  in  counsel.  The  men  who 
have  appeared  so  often  upon  the  scene  of  this  Gospel  ap- 


252 

pear  once  more,  and  through  them  the  enemy  utters  his 
advice  "not  in  the  feast."  But  this  much  is  decided,  the 
King,  the  Prince  of  Life,  is  to  be  killed.  They  must  get  rid 
of  Him,  and  so  wicked  hands  are  getting  ready  to  crucify 
and  to  slay  Him,  as  later  the  Holy  Spirit  declared  "Him 
ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and 
slain."  All  the  wickedness,  hatred  of  man  and  the  sinfulness 
of  sin,  as  well  as  Satanic  power,  is  now  to  be  revealed  in  the 
sufferings  of  Christ.  And  here  He  is  the  perfect  One  in 
perfect  love  and  obedience,  to  do  the  Father's  will,  who  so 
loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son. 

And  now  the  second  scene.  It  takes  place  in  the  house 
of  Simon,  the  leper,  most  likely  called  by  that  name  because 
he  had  been  afflicted  with  leprosy.  The  beautiful  incident, 
full  of  precious  lessons,  is  followed  by  the  murmuring  of  the 
disciples,  especially  from  the  side  of  Judas,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Gospel  of  John. 

"But  Jesus  being  in  Bethany,  in  Simon,  the  leper's  house, 
a  woman  having  an  alabaster  flask  of  very  precious  ointment, 
came  to  Him  and  poured  it  out  upon  His  head  as  he  lay  at 
table.  But  the  disciples  seeing  it  became  indignant,  saying, 
To  what  end  was  this  waste  ?  for  this  might  have  been  sold 
for  much  and  been  given  to  the  poor.  But  Jesus  knowing  it 
said  to  them,  Why  do  ye  trouble  the  woman?  for  she  has 
wrought  a  good  work  toward  me.  For  ye  have  the  poor 
always  with  you,  but  me  ye  have  not  always.  For  in  pour- 
ing out  this  ointment  on  my  body,  she  has  done  it  for  my 
burial.  Verily  I  say  to  you,  Wheresoever  these  glad  tidings 
may  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  that  also  which  this 
woman  has  done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her" 
(verses  6-13). 

The  woman  who  did  this  blessed  work  for  the  Lord  is  not 
named  here.  From  the  Gospel  of  John  we  learn  that  it  was 
none  other  than  Mary,  the  sister  of  Martha.    To  fully  under- 


253 

stand  the  scene  here  the  account  in  the  Gospel  of  John  must 
be  taken  in  consideration  (Chapter  xii).  There  we  read 
the  details  of  the  feast  which  was  made  for  Him  in  the 
house  and  that  Lazarus  was  also  present.  How  devoted 
Mary  was  to  her  Lord.  We  first  see  her  at  His  feet  listen- 
ing to  His  words.  "One  thing  is  needful,  and  Mary  hath 
chosen  that  good  part,"  He  had  said  then.  She  had  ac- 
knowledged Him  in  His  office  as  Prophet.  In  John  xi  we 
see  her  again  at  His  feet.  There  she  is  weeping  on  account 
of  the  death  of  Lazarus ;  a  little  while  later  He  weeps  with 
her.  She  knew  Him  as  the  sympathizing  One,  as  He  is  now 
our  Priest.  And  here  she  anoints  Him,  and  does  it  for  His 
burying.  In  faith  she  realizes  the  near  approach  of  that 
death,  of  which  He  had  spoken.  She  believed  He,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  would  soon  die ;  she  understood  more  of  that  death 
than  all  the  other  disciples.  Perhaps  when  she  sat  at  His 
feet  He  had  spoken  to  her  about  His  coming  death  and 
burial  and  resurrection.  But  some  readers  of  the  Bible 
have  a  difficulty.  Here  in  our  Gospel  she  anoints  His  head, 
but  in  the  Gospel  of  John  she  is  at  His  feet  and  anoints 
them,  wiping  His  feet  with  her  hair.  Critics  and  infidels 
who  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  have  pointed  this  out 
as  one  of  the  glaring  contradictions,  while  others  have 
thought  of  two  different  occasions  when  the  anointing  took 
place.  There  is,  however,  no  difficulty  here  at  all.  She 
anointed  both  His  feet  and  His  head.  The  Holy  Spirit 
reports  the  anointing  of  the  head  of  the  Lord  in  Matthew, 
because  this  is  in  harmony  with  the  object  of  the  Gospel. 
He  is  the  King,  and  while  He  is  the  rejected  Kingf,  her  faith 
no  doubt  looked  beyond  death  and  burial.  In  John  the  Holy 
Spirit  gives  the  anointing  of  the  feet  and  leaves  out  the 
anointing  of  the  head,  because  the  King  is  the  Son  of  God ; 
as  such  he  is  described  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  that  at- 


254 

titude  of  Mary  before  His  feet  anointing  them  is  in  fullest 
harmony  with  the  fourth  Gospel. 

It  was  an  alabaster  flask  she  brought  full  of  ointment  of 
spikenard,  very  costly.  These  flasks  contained  about  a 
pound  of  this  costly  ointment;  the  probable  value  was  300 
denarii,  or  about  $50.  It  was  a  very  large  sum  of  money 
in  that  time,  when  we  remember  that  a  day  laborer  received 
only  one  dinar  wages  a  day.  Three  hundred  denarii  was  at 
that  time  as  much  as  three  hundred  dollars  to-day.  How 
did  she  obtain  so  costly  an  alabaster  flask  with  spikenard? 
Most  likely  it  had  been  stored  away  from  bye-gone  days. 
It  must  have  been  the  most  costly  she  possessed.  A  heart 
filled  with  love  and  devotion  prompted  her  to  bring  this 
costly  ointment  and  pour  it  over  the  body  of  her  Lord.  To 
honor  Him  was  her  sole  object,  and  that  at  a  time  when  He 
was  about  to  be  rejected  and  forsaken  by  all.  And  let  us 
not  forget  that  she  had  learned  this  devotion  and  love  to 
Him,  manifested  in  the  outpouring  of  the  precious  ointment, 
at  His  feet.  Her  heart  occupation  with  the  Lord,  her  an- 
ticipation in  faith  of  what  was  before  Him,  led  her  on  to 
do  what  she  did.  She  had  no  eyes  for  what  was  around  her, 
nor  had  she  ears  for  the  criticism  of  those  who  watched  her 
deed.    He  and  He  alone  was  her  object. 

It  should  be  so  with  us,  and  it  will  be  so  if  we  truly 
abide  in  Him.  We,  too,  will  bring  our  best  to  Him. 
May  all  we  do,  yea,  the  smallest  act,  be  the  result  of  the 
deepest  appreciation  of  Himself,  our  wonderful  Saviour  and 
Lord. 

And  much  more  might  be  said  by  way  of  application  of 
this  most  blessed  incident.  For  instance  from  the  Gospel 
of  John  we  learn  that  the  odor  of  the  ointment  filled  the 
house.  'Thy  name  is  as  ointment  poured  forth,"  we  read 
in  Solomon's  song ;  well  may  we  think  of  that  precious  oint- 


255 

ment  poured  forth  with  its  fragrant  smell  as  a  type  of  His 
death.  In  the  same  song  we  read  "while  the  King  sitteth 
at  his  table  my  spikenard  sendeth  forth  the  smell  thereof." 
How  it  must  have  delighted  and  refreshed  His  heart  when 
that  ointment  enveloped  Him  with  its  fragrance. 

And  now  the  murmuring.  No  doubt  Judas  was  the  leader 
of  it,  as  we  see  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  Some  of  the  others 
were  influenced  by  him.  "Why  was  not  this  ointment  sold 
for  three  hundred  denarii  and  given  to  the  poor.  This  he 
said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor,  but  because  he  was  a 
thief,  and  had  the  bag  and  bare  what  was  put  therein"  (John 
xii:5~6).  Why  this  waste,  What  a  state  of  heart  these  few 
words  reveal !  How  different  from  her,  who  ever  must 
remain  the  highest  type  of  Christian  discipleship — Mary. 
She  gave  him  the  very  best  she  had.  The  others  thought 
of  it  as  waste,  as  if  anything  devoted  to  the  Christ  of  God, 
the  One  altogether  lovely,  could  be  waste.  These  two  classes 
among  disciples  are  still  present ;  but  how  few  the  Mary-type 
in  heart  devotion. 

The  words  He  spoke  in  appreciation  of  her  service  and 
her  gift  have  come  blessedly  true.  Her  act  will  never  be 
forgotten.  Beautifully  has  a  saint  written  on  this  occur- 
rence :  we  quote  a  part  of  it : 

"Reader,  whoever  you  are,  or  however  you  are  engaged, 
ponder  this.  See  that  you  keep  your  eye  directly  upon  the 
Lord  in  all  you  do.  Make  Jesus  the  immediate  object  of 
every  little  act  of  service,  ho  matter  what.  Seek  so  to  do 
your  every  work  as  that  He  may  be  able  to  say,  Tt  is  a 
good  work  upon  me.'  Do  not  be  occupied  with  the  thoughts 
of  men  as  to  your  path  or  as  to  your  work.  Do  not  mind 
their  indignation  or  their  misunderstanding,  but  pour  your 
alabaster  box  of  ointment  upon  the  person  of  your  Lord. 
See  that  your  every  act  of  service  is  the  fruit  of  your  heart's 


256 

appreciation  of  Him ;  and  be  assured  He  will  appreciate  your 
work  and  vindicate  you  before  assembled  myriads.  Thus  it 
was  with  the  woman  of  whom  we  have  been  reading.  She 
took  her  alabaster  box,  and  made  her  way  to  the  house  of 
Simon  the  leper,  with  one  object  in  her  heart,  namely,  Jesus 
and  what  was  before  Him.  She  was  absorbed  in  Him.  She 
thought  of  none  beside,  but  poured  her  precious  ointment 
on  His  head.  And  note  the  blessed  issue.  Her  act  has 
come  down  to  us,  in  the  gospel  record,  coupled  with  His 
blessed  Name.  No  one  can  read  the  gospel  without  reading 
also  the  memorial  of  her  personal  devotedness.  Empires 
have  risen,  flourished,  and  passed  away  into  the  region  of 
silence  and  oblivion.  Monuments  have  been  erected  to  com- 
memorate human  genius,  greatness  and  philanthropy — and 
these  monuments  have  crumbled  into  dust ;  but  the  act  of 
this  woman  still  lives,  and  shall  live  for  ever.  The  hand  of 
the  Master  has  erected  a  monument  to  her,  which  shall 
never,  no  never,  perish.  May  we  have  grace  to  imitate  her ; 
and,  in  this  day,  when  there  is  so  much  of  human  effort 
in  the  way  of  philanthropy,  may  our  works,  whatever  they 
are,  be  the  fruit  of  our  heart's  appreciation  of  an  absent, 
rejected,  crucified  Lord !" 

Mary's  devotion  was  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  plans 
of  the  enemies  that  the  death  of  the  Lord  should  not  take 
place  in  the  feast.  It  stirred  up  the  traitor  to  action.  This 
no  doubt  is  the  reason  why  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  the  record 
of  the  anointing  out  of  its  chronological  order.  Judas'  dark 
deed  we  behold  next.  "Then  one  of  the  twelve,  he  was  called 
Judas  Iscariot,  went  to  the  chief  priests  and  said.  What  are 
ye  willing  to  give  me,  and  I  will  deliver  Him  up  to  you? 
And  they  appointed  to  him  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  And  from 
that  time  he  sought  a  good  opportunity  that  he  might  deliver 
Him  up"  (verses  14-16). 


257 

Who  was  Judas?  His  surname  is  given  here.  Iscariot 
is  composed  of  two  words  "Ish"  and  "Kerioth;"  translated 
"the  man  of  Kerith."  He  was  the  only  Judean  disciple 
among  the  twelve,  the  rest  were  ail  from  Galilee.  This  is 
significant  and  shows  the  apostasy  of  Judah,  this  man  of 
Kerioth  being  the  heading  up  of  it  as  ere  long  there  will  be 
another  heading  up,  in  the  man  of  sin  and  the  son  of  per- 
dition, the  personal  Anti-Christ,  who  will  be  a  Jew.*  In 
Luke  we  have  the  information  that  Satan  entered  into  him. 
That  mighty  enemy,  who  tempted  our  Lord  and  found  noth- 
ing in  Him,  who  took  hold  of  Peter  and  used  him  as  mouth- 
piece when  he  said,  "Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord,"  now  takes 
actual  possession  of  the  one,  who  was  indeed  his  own,  for 
Judas  had  never  believed  in  Christ.  Peter  may  deny  Him 
and  the  rest  of  the  disciples  forsake  their  Lord,  yet  Satan 
could  never  enter  into  them,  for  they  were  saved,  had  life 
and  the  power  of  God  kept  them.  The  Lord  knew  that 
wicked  one  among  His  disciples.  "But  there  are  some  of 
you  who  believe  not.  For  Jesus  knew  from  the  beginning 
who  they  were  who  did  not  believe,  and  who  wrould  deliver 
Him  up"  (John  VL64).  "He  knew  him  that  delivered  Him 
up;  on  account  of  this  He  said,  Ye  are  not  all  clean"  (John 
xiiirii.  Furthermore,  all  this  had  been  predicted  in  the  Old 
Testament.  See  Zechariah  xi:i2;  Psalms  xli:9;  lxix:25; 
clx:8.  And  the  price  for  which  Judas  betrayed  the  King 
was  the  price  of  a  servant,  a  slave,  according  to  Exodus 
xxi  :$2. 

And  now   the   great  event,   the   complete   fulfillment   of 


*We  desire  to  caution  our  readers  against  a  fanciful  teaching, 
which  lacks  scriptural  support,  that  Judas  will  be  raised  up  during 
the  great  tribulation  and  will  be  that  man  of  sin,  the  Antichrist 
foretold  in  2  Thess.  ii.  Such  teaching  coming  from  otherwise 
reputable  teachers  of  the  Bible  does  much  harm. 


258 

His  own  predictions  concerning  His  sufferings  and  His 
death,  draws  nearer.  He  was  net  taken  by  surprise  in  any- 
thing. In  the  calmest  dignity  He  moves  on,  knowing  His 
Father's  will  He  had  come  to  do  and  that  the  mighty  work 
could  never  fail,  but  would  be  accomplished.  He  is  ready 
to  pay  the  purchase  price,  to  give  all,  to  die  for  the  nation, 
to  obtain  the  treasure  and  the  field  and  the  one  pearl  of  great 
price  likewise.  And  now  we  follow  Him  and  the  disciples 
to  the  feast. 

"Now  on  the  first  day  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread, 
the  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying,  Where  wilt  thou  that 
we  prepare  for  Thee  to  eat  the  Passover?  And  He  said, 
Go  into  the  city  unto  such  a  one,  and  say  to  him,  The 
Teacher  says,  My  time  is  near,  I  will  keep  the  passover  with 
my  disciples  in  thy  house.  And  the  disciples  did  as  Jesus 
had  directed  them,  and  they  prepared  the  passover.  And 
when  the  evening  was  come  He  lay  down  at  table  with  the 
twelve.  And  as  they  were  eating  He  said,  Verily  I  say 
to  you,  that  one  of  you  shall  deliver  Me  up.  And  being 
exceedingly  grieved  they  began  to  say  to  Him,  each  of  them, 
Is  it  I,  Lord?  But  He  answering  said,  He  that  dips  his 
hand  with  Me  in  the  dish,  he  it  is  that  shall  deliver  Me  up. 
The  Son  of  Man  goes  indeed  according  as  it  is  written  con- 
cerning Him,  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  Man 
is  delivered  up ;  it  were  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been 
born.  And  Judas,  who  delivered  Him  up,  answering  said, 
Is  it  I,  Rabbi?  He  says  to  him,  Thou  hast  said"  (verses 
17-25). 

Is  it  not  the  purpose  of  our  exposition  to  compare  the 
different  Gospel  records,  and  so  we  shall  not  refer  to  the 
different  accounts,  which  certainly  are  not  conflicting.  The 
first  day  of  the  feast  of  the  unleavened  bread  was  the  day 
on  which  the  passover  was  to  be  killed  (Luke  xxii:7).    It 


259 

is,  therefore,  clear  that  He  and  His  disciples  commemorated 
then  the  Jewish  Paschal  Supper.  He  Himself  does  the 
ordering  and  manifests  Himself  as  Lord  throughout.  Once 
more  He  announces  the  nearness  of  His  passion — "My  time 
is  near."  What  a  moment  that  was !  They  had  attempted 
before  to  take  His  life.  That  was  impossible.  The  time 
is  now  near,  His  time,  when  the  King  was  to  lay  down  His 
life.  Directly  we  see  Him  at  the  table  with  the  twelve,  and 
while  they  were  eating  He  announces  the  fact  of  one  of  them 
being  the  traitor.  What  follows  in  that  conversation  may 
well  be  taken  for  a  last  warning  to  Judas.  The  Lord  had 
seen  him  turning  to  the  chief  priests  and  knew  of  his  bar- 
gaining with  them.  He  read  the  whole  dark  story  in  that 
heart,  which  was  before  Him,  the  omniscient  One,  as  an 
opened  book.  "Verily  I  say  to  you,  that  one  of  you  shall 
deliver  me  up."  This  must  have  been  aimed  at  the  con- 
science of  Judas  Iscariot.  Did  he  also  show  surprise?  Did 
his  face  turn  red  or  into  paleness  as  he  saw  the  innermost 
thoughts  of  his  heart  revealed?  Each  of  them,  with  the 
exception  of  Judas,  asks  the  question,  Is  it  I,  Lord?  Judas 
is  silent.  Lmder  the  power  of  that  awful  being,  Satan,  who 
held  him  in  his  grasp,  he  hardens  his  heart.  But  more  than 
that  the  Lord  speaks.  "He  that  dips  his  hand  with  me  in 
the  dish,  he  it  is  who  shall  deliver  me  up."  The  more  de- 
tailed account  of  all  this  we  find  in  the  Gocpel  of  John. 
While  here  we  have  only  the  fact  stated  of  the  betrayer 
dipping  his  hand  into  the  dish,  in  John  we  read  that  the 
Lord  gave  him  a  sop.  And  Judas  could  take  that  morsel, 
a  token  of  the  love  of  the  Lord  whom  he  had  rejected  and 
was  about  to  betray.  It  was  a  silent  offer  from  the  side  of 
the  Lord  to  give  even  to  him,  but  he  would  not.  He  rejects 
that  offer.  Again  we  have  the  record  for  the  second  time 
that  Satan  entered  into  him   (John  xiii:27).     It  was  right 


260 

after  he  had  taken  the  morsel.    The  last  offer  was  rejected, 
and  now  Satan  gains  a  still  firmer  hold  upon  him  and  pos- 
sesses  him   fully.     At   last  these   closed  lips  open.      What 
awful,  satanic  hypocrisy  he  utters!     "Is.it  I,  Rabbi?"     Such 
hypocrisy  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  the  Truth  can  only 
be  explained  by  the  presence  of  that  being  in  Judas,  who  is 
the  father  of  lies.     It  is  also  a  significant   fact  that  Judas 
did  not  say  "Lord,"  but  he  used  the  word  "Rabbi"  instead. 
This  is  evidence  that  he  never  had  received  Him  as  Lord 
and  believed  on  Him  as  the  Lord.    ITe  had  power  conferred 
on  him  to  drive  out  the  demons  and  to  heal  the  sick — mes- 
sianic power,  coming  from  the  King,  but  he  was  nevertheless 
an  unbeliever.     "Rabbi"  he  said,  because  Satan  had  entered 
into  him,  and  Satan  refuses  to  call  Him  Lord.    Yet  the  time 
will  come  when  all  knees,  including  Judas,  must  bow  at  (not 
in)  the  names  of  Jesus  and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  Lord.     For  thus  it  is  written  :     "Wherefore  also 
God      highly      exalted       Him,      and      granted      Him      a 
name,      which      is      above      every      name,      that     at      the 
name   of  Jesus   every   knee    should   bow,    of   heavenly   and 
earthly    and    infernal    beings    and    every    tongue    confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  God  the  Father's  glory"  (Phil. 
xi:o,-ii).     From  the  lips  of  the  Lord  he  hears  the  "Woe," 
and,  according  to  the  Gospel  of  John,  "he  went  out  imme- 
diately and  it  was  night."     He  went  out  into  a  night  without 
a   morning,   into  eternal  night,   the   blackness   of   darkness 
forever  (Jude  13).    And  all  who  reject  that  Lord,  who  wil- 
fully close   their  hearts   against   Him   and   refuse   His  au- 
thority, go  into  that  night. 

In  connection  with  this  solemn  scene  we  find  the  descrip- 
tion of  another  scene.  We  have  now  the  record  of  the  in- 
stitution of  that  great  and  blessed  memorial,  generally  called 
the  Lord's  supper. 


26 1 

"And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus,  having  taken  the  bread 
and  blessed,  broke  it  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and  said, 
Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body.  And  having  taken  the  cup  and 
given  thanks,  He  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it. 
For  this  is  my  blood,  that  of  the  new  covenant,  that  is  shed 
for  many  for  remission  of  sins.  But  I  say  to  you  that  I 
will  not  at  all  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine, 
until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  the  kingdom 
of  my  Father.  And  having  sung  a  hymn,  they  went  out  to 
the  mount  of  Olives"  (verses  26-30).  What  the  passover 
feast  of  the  Jews  commemorated  is  so  well  known  that  it 
does  not  need  further  mention  here.  And  now  the  true 
passover  Lamb  is  about  to  be  slain  and  He  institutes  another 
feast  a  great  and  blessed  memorial  of  Flis  mighty  work,  of 
His  sacrificial  death  upon  the  cross.  "On  that  night  the 
Jewish  dispensation  came  to  an  end.  The  Passover,  its  great 
institution,  had  fulfilled  its  purpose;  the  Paschal  Lamb  it 
prepared  for  and  prefigured  was  the  next  day  to  be  slain. 
The  same  night  saw  the  inauguration  of  a  new  feast  which 
embodies  the  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity,  as  the  Pass- 
over embodied  the  fundamental  truth  of  Judaism."*  How 
fearfully  the  words  of  our  blessed  Lord  have  been  misused, 
what  blasphemous  doctrines  have  been  built  upon  the  simple 
language  of  the  Lord  and  how  this  blessed  memorial  has 
become  the  occasion  for  strife,  violence  and  even  bloodshed, 
we  do  not  care  to  follow  in  our  exposition.  It  would  take 
hundreds  of  pages  to  record  all  that.  The  Roman  dogma 
of  the  transubstantiation  is  a  downright  blasphemy.  Hun- 
dreds of  saints  have  been  tortured  and  killed  for  stating  thus 
the  lie  of  transubstantiation,  and,  if  Rome  could,  she  would 
do  the  same  in  the  present  day.  This  transubstantiation 
claims  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  the  real 


*\Veston  in  the  Genesis  of  the  New  Testament. 


26b 

body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  then  there 
is  the  consubstantiation,  the  doctrine  that  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  coexists  in  and  with  the  bread  and  wine,  although 
they  retain  their  nature  as  bread  and  wine.  This  is  more 
or  less  the  teaching  of  the  Lutheran  church.  But  we  refrain 
from  following  the  different  teachings  concerning  the  Lord's 
supper.  What  can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  new  feast 
He  instituted  is  a  memorial?  The  Passover  feast  was  a 
feast  of  remembrance,  and  what  He  does  here  on  that  sol- 
emn night  was  a  simple  meal  to  commemorate  the  giving  of 
His  body  and  the  shedding  of  His  blood.  The  account  given 
here  of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper  is  in  harmony 
with  the  character  of  this  first  Gospel.  The  Holy  Spirit 
gives  the  record  to  show  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant, 
which  the  lamb  of  God  shed  for  many,  in  contrast  to  the 
Jewish  Passover,  the  old  covenant  which  was  exclusively 
only  for  the  Jewish  people.  If  we  turn  to  the  Gospel  of 
Luke,  which  is  wider  in  its  scope  than  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, we  read  the  words,  which  give  to  the  Lord's  supper 
decidedly  the  character  cf  a  memorial.  "Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  Me."  It  is  then  simply  this  to  remember  Him, 
not  to  receive  anything,  but  to  remember  Him  and  His  love. 
This  is  still  more  enforced  by  another  record  which  we  have 
of  this  great  memorial.  We  find  a  record  outside  of  the 
Gospels  altogether.  This  record  was  given  by  revelation  to 
the  Apostle  Paul :  "For  I  received  from  the  Lord,  that  which 
I  also  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  night 
in  which  He  was  delivered  up,  took  bread,  and  having  given 
thanks  broke  it,  and  said,  This  is  my  body,  which  is  for  you ; 
this  do  in  remembrance  of  Me.  In  like  manner  also  the  cup 
after  having  supped  saying,  This  cup  is  the  new  covenant 
in  my  blood,  this  do,  as  often  as  ye  shall  drink  it  in  remem- 
brance of  Me.    For  as  often  as  ve  shall  eat  this  bread,  and 


263 

drink  the  cup  ye  announce  the  death  of  the  Lord  until  He 
come"  (i  Cor.  xi  123-26) .  And  what  better  way  could  there 
be  than  the  way  He  has  shewn  in  this  request  to  remember 
Him,  in  this  simple  ceremony  of  breaking  the  bread  and  par- 
taking of  it  and  drinking  from  the  cup  ?  Xo  doubt  this  re- 
quest was  fulfilled  by  the  Saints  of  earliest  date  on  every 
Lord's  day ;  Acts  xx  7  certainly  gives  one  that  impression  ; 
yet  there  is  no  law  about  it.  The  soul  that  is  occupied  with 
Him  will  ever  long  to  fulfill  that  request  He  left  in  that 
night  ere  He  was  delivered  up.  'Till  He  comes"  up  to  the 
time  when  we  shall  see  Him  face  to  face  in  the  Father's 
house.  It  ever  keeps  Him,  His  death  for  us  and  His  coming 
again  as  a  bright  and  blessed  reality  before  the  heart. 

"See  the  feast  of  Love  is  spread, 

Drink  the  wine  and  break  the  bread ; 
Sweet  memorials — till  the  Lord 
Call  us  around  His  heavenly  board ; 

Some  from  earth,  from  Glory  some, 

Severed  only  till  He  come." 

But  we  return  to  the  words  of  the  Lord  in  this  Gospel. 
Significant  is  the  statement  "But  I  say  unto  you,  that  I  will 
not  at  all  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until 
that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  the  kingdom  of 
my  Father."  These  words  are  characteristic  to  this  Gospel. 
In  Luke  and  Mark  we  read  that  He  speaks  of  Himself 
as  not  drinking  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  the  kingdom  of 
God  has  come.  But  here  He  speaks  of  that  day  when  not 
only  He  will  drink  it  anew  but  when  He  will  drink  it  anew 
with  His  disciples  in  the  kingdom  of  His  Father.  The  words 
are  beautifully  in  order  in  this  Gospel,  which,  as  we  have 
learned,  tells  us  so  much  of  the  kingdom.  There  is  a  day 
coming  when   that  Kingdom   will   come   in   power   and   in 


264 

Glory.  It  is  the  day  of  His  return.  Then  His  own  will  be 
associated  with  Him  in  heavenly  Glory.  For  a  deeper  knowl- 
edge of  that  drinking  anew  with  Him,  the  wine,  the  fullest 
joy  in  that  mighty  coming  Manifestation,  we  have  to  wait 
till  that  day  of  Glory  breaks.  Dispensationally  we  see  the 
King  separated  from  His  own  people  till  the  hour  strikes 
when  His  Kingdom  comes. 

And  now  they  leave  the  room  after  they  had  sung  a 
hymn.  This  has  been  and  is  still  the  custom  of  the  Jews  in 
connection  with  the  passover  feast.  Indeed  it  would  be  in- 
teresting and  helpful  to  mention  here  the  passover  customs 
of  the  Jews ;  they  are  full  of  significant  ceremonies.  How- 
ever this  would  lead  us  too  far.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
hymn  they  sang  consisted  of  Psalms  Cxv,  Cxvi,  Cxvii  and 
Cxviii.  In  the  Jewish  ritual  they  are  called  the  great  Hal- 
lel.  With  what  emotion  of  soul  He  must  have  sung  with 
His  disciples !  What  encouragement  it  must  have  been  for 
Him !  These  Psalms  contain  such  blessed  and  full  messianic 
predictions.  "The  stone,  which  the  builders  refused,  is  be- 
come the  head  of  the  corner.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  it 
is  marvelous  in  our  eyes.  This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord 
hath  made;  we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it.  Save  now,  I 
beseech  thee,  send  now  prosperity.  Blessed  be  He  that  com- 
eth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  These  words  come  in  at  the 
close  of  that  hymn  they  sung,  and  while  the  disciples  sang 
them  as  they  had  done  so  often  before  as  pious  Jews,  for 
Him  it  meant  so  much.  A  little  while  longer,  just  a  few 
hours,  and  the  builders  would  reject  Him.  A  few  days 
more  and  by  resurrection  from  the  dead  He  would  be  the 
head  of  the  corner,  the  chief  stone,  and  in  that  shout, 
"Blessed  be  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  He 
saw  in  the  distant  future  a  welcome  from  the  remnant  of 
His  people,  at  the  time  of  His  Second  Coming.    And  so  the 


2&5 

blessed  One  even  then  saw  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  was 
satisfied. 

The  last  notes  have  died  away  and  He  speaks  again. 
"Then  said  Jesus  to  them,  All  ye  shall  be  offended  in  me 
during  this  night.  For  it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the  shep- 
herd, and  the  sheep  of  the  flock  will  be  scattered  abroad ; 
but  after  that  I  shall  be  risen,  I  will  go  before  you  to  Gali- 
lee. And  Peter  answering  said  to  Him,  If  all  shall  be  of- 
fended in  Thee,  I  will  never  be  offended.  Jesus  said  to  him, 
Verily  I  say  to  thee,  that  during  this  night,  before  the  cock 
shall  crow,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice.  Peter  saith  to  Him, 
If  I  should  need  die  with  Thee,  I  will  in  nowise  deny  Thee. 
Likewise  said  all  the  disciples  also"  (verses  31-35).  He 
revealed  thus  what  was  before  them.  The  Scripture  to 
which  He  refers  is  found  in  Zechariah.  They  were  His 
sheep  and  He  the  shepherd,  as  He  speaks  of  Himself  in  the 
Gospel  of  John,  the  good  shepherd,  who  gives  His  life  for 
the  sheep.  But  the  smiting  of  the  shepherd,  the  smiting  of 
Him  who  is  called  in  that  prophecy  of  Zechariah  the  fellow 
of  God  (Zech.  xiii:7),  what  was  that  to  be?  The  cry  of 
the  forsaken  One  on  the  cross  gives  us  the  answer.  He 
knew  all  that  was  before  Him.*  And  again  we  notice  His 
calmness,  His  dignity  through  all  this,  which  to  a  mere  man 
would  have  been  an  almost  unbearable  ordeal.  Then  He 
announces  His  resurrection  and  that  He  would  go  before 
them  to  Galilee.  Later  we  shall  find  the  risen  One  there 
with  His  disciples,  announcing  the  fact  that  He  has  all 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  There  is  no  mention  made 
of  His  ascension.     Peter  now  looms  up.     Once  more  poor 


*The  teaching  of  the  so-called  critics,  so  strong  to-day  throughout 
the  professing  church,  a  school  which  claims  that  the  Lord  had  no 
full  knowledge  of  what  the  Scriptures  contained,  this  teaching  must 
be  branded  as  wickedness. 


266 

Peter  acts  in  self-confidence  in  his  own  strength.  The 
Lord  had  told  Him  before,  "Where  I  go  thou  canst  net  fol- 
low me  now,  but  thou  shalt  follow  me  after"  (John  xiii  136). 
What  significant  words  these  were.  They  remind  one  of 
the  third  chapter  of  Joshua,  of  the  record  of  the  passing 
over  Jordan.  There  was  to  be  a  space  of  two  thousand 
cubits  between  the  ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  people.  The 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  typifying  Christ,  was  alone 
by  itself  and  had  to  make  way  for  the  people,  and  they 
followed  after.  So  Peter  would  follow  Him  and  die  with 
Him,  but  he  could  not.  Afterwards  at  the  Lake  of  Tiberias 
the  risen  Christ  tells  him  that  he  should  indeed  follow,  re- 
vealing the  time  and  the  manner  cf  his  death,  a  death  which 
the  grace  of  God,  the  strength  of  the  Lord  made  alone  pos- 
sible. Here  he  acts  in  the  flesh,  and  in  spite  of  the  Lord's 
warning,  he  maintains  that  attitude,  the  attitude  of  self- 
confidence.  The  Lord  announces  his  soon  coming  denial, 
the  record  of  which  we  find  at  the  close  of  our  chapter. 

"Then  Jesus  comes  with  them  to  a  place  called  Geth- 
semane,  and  says  to  the  disciples,  sit  here  until  I  go  away 
and  pray  yonder.  And  taking  with  Him  Peter  and  the 
two  sons  of  Zebedee,  He  began  to  be  sorrowful  and  deeply 
depressed.  Then  He  says  to  them,  My  soul  is  very  sorrow- 
ful even  unto  death  ;  remain  here  and  watch  with  Me.  And 
going  forward  a  little  He  fell  upon  His  face,  praying  and 
saying,  My  Father,  if  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from 
Me ;  but  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt.  And  He  comes  to 
the  disciples  and  finds  them  sleeping,  and  says  to  Peter, 
Thus  ye  have  not  been  able  to  watch  one  hour  with  Me? 
Watch  and  pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation ;  the  spirit 
indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  weak.  Again  a  going  away 
a  second  time  He  prayed,  saying,  My  Father,  if  this  cannot 
pass  from  Me  unless  I  drink  it,  Thy  will  be  done.     And 


26? 

coming  He  found  them  again  sleeping,  for  their  eyes  were 
heavy.  And  leaving  them  He  went  away  again  and  prayed 
the  third  time,  saying  the  same  thing.  Then  He'  comes  to 
the  disciples  and  says  to  them,  Sleep  on  now  and  take  your 
rest ;  behold  the  hour  has  drawn  nigh,  and  the  Son  of  man  is 
delivered  up  into  the  hands  of  sinners.  Arise,  let  us  go; 
behold  he  that  delivers  me  up  has  drawn  nigh."     (Verses 

36-46.) 

What  a  holy  scene  it  is  that  is  now  before  us !  We  are 
face  to  face  with  the  most  solemn  event  in  the  life  of  the  Son 
of  God,  save  that  hour  when  He  hung  on  the  cross,  forsaken 
by  God.  It  is  a  Scripture  which  we  approach  with  the 
greatest  caution ;  the  words  are  ringing  in  our  ears,  the 
words  which  Moses  heard  when  he  stood  in  divine  presence 
"put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet  for  the  place  whereon 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  It  is  a  scene  which  draws 
out  the  heart  in  worship  and  adoration  for  it  was  for  us  He 
passed  through  this  deep  agony,  for  us  that  He,  the  mighty 
Creator  fell  on  His  face,  into  the  dust  of  earth,  He  had 
created. 

Hark !  what  sounds  of  bitter  weeping, 

From  yon  lonesome  garden  sweep? 
'Tis  the  Lord  His  vigil  keeping, 

Whilst  His  followers  sink  in  sleep. 
Ah,  my  soul,  He  loved  thee, 
Yes,  He  gave  Himself  for  me. 
He  is  speaking  to  His  Father, 

Tasting  deep  that  bitter  cup, 
Yet  He  takes  it,  willing  rather 

For  our  sakes  to  drink  it  up. 
Oh  what  love  !  He  loved  me  ! 
Gave  Himself,  my  soul,  for  thee. 

Even  so,  He  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me.     Oh 


268 

Thou  blessed  Lord,  what  agony  Thou  didst  go  through  for 
the  sake  of  having  us  poor,  vile,  miserable,  lost  sinners  with 
Thee  and  share  Thy  presence  and  Glory  throughout  eter- 
nity. And  how  little  we  appreciate,  honor  and  adore  Thee ! 
Much  rather  would  we  write  in  the  strain  of  devotion  and 
worship  than  to  attempt  by  feeble  human  words  a  closer 
study  of  Gethsemane.  Of  an  exposition  of  the  events  of 
that  night  we  dare  not  speak.  The  suffering  of  our  Lord 
in  the  garden  is  beyond  the  ken  of  any  saint;  no  saint  of 
God  will  ever  be  able  to  fathom  the  deep  mystery  of  the 
sufferings  of  the  holy  One.  If  we  could  fully  grasp  His 
marvelous  personality,  how  holy,  how  absolutely  holy  He  was 
and  absolutely  perfect  in  Himself,  we  might  be  able  to  enter 
deeper  into  the  agony  of  our  Lord.  Only  the  right  estimate 
of  His  Person  can  give  us,  at  least  in  part,  a  little  of  the 
meaning  of  His  deep  sorrow  unto  death. 

But  alas!  just  into  this  holy  scene  man  with  his  reason 
and  wrong  conception  has  intruded  and  by  attempting  to 
solve  the  mystery  of  the  suffering  of  the  Lord  has  put  dis- 
honor upon  His  person.  Different  interpretations  are 
about,  which  belittle  and  dishonor  Him.  We  would  rather 
pass  these  by,  but  it  is  expedient  that  we  do  not. 

But  recently,  in  a  leading  christian  magazine,  the  follow- 
ing appeared  from  the  pen  of  a  well  known  preacher : 

The  second  interpretation  is,  that  He  prayed  literally  to  be  de- 
livered from  death,  then  and  there ;  that  the  severity  of  His  agony 
was  such  that  His  physical  nature  was  unable  to  bear  it,  and,  unless 
sustained  miraculously,  life  would  have  become  extinct  in  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane;  that  the  conflict  with  Satan  was  so  intense  and 
prolonged  that  His  human  nature  would  have  given  way  but  for  the 
Father's  help.  In  this  aspect,  this  was  the  gravest  crisis  of  His 
dependence  and  need,  and  the  Father  did  support  and  sustain,  so 
that,  instead  of  dying  in  Gethsemane,  He  was  enabled  and  strength- 
ened to  go  on  to  the  greater  agony  and  crisis  of  Cavalry.  We  con- 
fess that  our  own  minds  turn  absolutely  and  instinctively  to  the 


269 

latter  of  these  interpretations  as  the  more  rational,  scriptural,  and 
satisfactory. 

We  do  not  deny,  that  this  interpretation  is  rational,  but 
it  is  far  from  being  scriptural.  Indeed  it  has  the  elements 
of  wicked  doctrine  in  it.  If  it  is  true  "that  the  conflict  with 
Satan  was  so  intense  and  prolonged  that  His  human  nature 
would  have  given  way  but  for  the  Father's  help''  then  Satan 
must  have  had  the  power  to  slay  the  Prince  of  Life.  The 
reader  will  see  at  once  to  what  such  a  conception  must 
lead  us.  This  interpretation  likewise  speaks  of  the  agony 
His  physical  nature  was  unable  to  bear  unless  sustained 
miraculously  and  the  possibility  of  His  life  becoming  extinct 
in  the  garden.  He,  instead  of  dying  on  the  cross,  dying  in 
Gethsemane.  All  this  dishonors  cur  Lord.  We  cannot  tol- 
erate such  a  thought  for  a  moment.  His  life  could  never 
become  extinct  in  Gethsemane ;  there  was  no  such  danger  of 
His  death.  At  no  time  was  our  blessed  Lord  in  danger  of 
death.  His  body  was  not  mortal  but  immortal.  Death  is  the 
result  of  sin;  where  there  is  no  sin  death  has  no  claim. 
Our  Lord  could  never  die  under  the  attacks  of  the  enemy. 
On  the  cross  where  He,  who  knew  no  sin  was  made  sin  for 
us,  He  gave  His  life ;  then  as  our  substitute  Lie  died.  His 
death  could  never  take  place  till  that  solemn  moment  had 
come,  when  Lie  was  made  sin  for  us  on  the  cross.  Further- 
more He  said :  "Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  Me,  be- 
cause I  lay  down  my  life  that  I  might  take  it  again.  No 
man  taketh  it  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  myself,  I  have 
power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again" 
(John  x:i7~i8).  Another  view  has  recently  been  advanced. 
A  brother  wrote  us  about  this  as  follows :  "Have  you  seen 
anywhere  that  in  Gethsemane,  our  Lord  was  delivered  from 
death  which  he  feared,  according  to  Hebrews  v;  and  was 
strengthened  to  go  on  to  the  death  on  the  cross,  at  which 


270 

He  aimed,  and  for  which  He  came  ?  His  willingness  to  stop 
short  of  His  finished  work,  and  let  all  that  He  had  accom- 
plished thus  far  go  if  the  Father  so  willed  it,  is  the  greatest 
instance  of  submission  en  record."  xThe  first  statement  is  not 
true,  as  He  was  not  delivered  from  death  and  the  second 
statement  is  inconceivable.  How  could  He  be  willing  to 
stop  short  of  His  finished  work,  when  He  entered  into  the 
world  for  that  very  purpose  and  all  depended  on  that  work  ? 
How  could  He  be  willing  to  stop  short  of  it  after  His  own 
Spirit  in  the  prophets  had  spoken  of  His  sufferings  and  the 
accomplishment  of  this  work  of  atonement?  Such  a  concep- 
tion is  highly  fanciful  and  full  of  mysticism.  We  refrain 
from  pointing  out  other  difficulties  connected  with  this 
theory  of  His  sufferings  in  the  garden.  But  did  He  perhaps 
shrink  from  the  physical  sufferings  of  the  cross,  as  others 
have  maintained?  Assuredly  not,  for  He  had  announced 
so  often,  as  we  have  seen  in  this  Gospel,  His  rejection,  suf- 
fering and  death.  And  if  it  was  not  all  that  which  is  suggest- 
ed in  these  different  interpretations  of  His  agony,  what  was 
it  then  ?  What  was  that  cup  which  He  dreaded?  What  was 
that  sorrow  unto  death?  It  was  this  very  fact  we  stated 
before,  that  He  the  Holy,  the  Spotless  One,  the  One  who  is 
the  image  of  God,  was  soon  to  be  made  sin  and  to  stand 
in  the  presence  of  God,  no  longer  as  the  Beloved  One, 
but  in  the  sinner's  stead.  God's  face  upon  which  He 
had  ever  gazed  which  had  ever  smiled  upon  Him  was 
soon  to  be  hid.  That  eternal  love  He  enjoyed  was  to  be  n 
longer  upon  Him,  but  in  its  place  judgment  and  wrath  of 
God.  And  what  was  it  when  at  last  He  was  made  sin  for  us  ? 
That  awful  cry  from  the  cross  gives  us  the  answer,  "My 
God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?"  But  oh! 
what  did  that  cry  mean  for  that  Holy  One?  Shall  we  ever 
know  its  depths  and  the  awful   suffering  the  Holy  One, 


271 

made  sin  for  us,  had  to  pass  through,  when  thus  He  cried  ? 
From  this  His  holy  soul  shrank.  His  holiness  and  perfection 
even  made  this  shrinking  necessary.  He  could  do  nothing 
else  hut  shrink  from  it,  and  yet  He  hows  in  perfect  sub- 
mission  and  obedience  to  the  Father's  will.  Not  my  will  but 
Thy  will  be  done.  This  was  before  Him  in  the  garden  in 
that  dark  night  of  agony  and  sorrow.  And  here  we  would 
rest.  But  all  praise  and  adoration  to  Thee  our  blessed 
Saviour  and  Lord  for  all  Thine  agony  and  sorrow  and  for 
Thine  obedience  unto  the  death  of  the  cross ! 

Two    Scriptures,    one    from    the    Old    Testament,    the 
other     from    the     New,    may    be    mentioned    as     giving 
further    light    on    Gethsemane.     The    one    hundred    and 
second     Psalm     may  be   rightly     termed     "The   Gethse- 
mane   Psalm."       Its     superscription     is,     "  A    prayer    of 
the   afflicted,   when   he   is   overwhelmed,    and   poureth    out 
his  complaint  before  God."     It  begins  with  the  deepest  dis- 
tress and  ends  with  the  eternal  Glory  of  the  One  who  was 
in  such  sorrow.     In  the  first  part  of  this  Psalm  we  find  the 
great  sorrow.    Well  may  one  think  here  of  that  pathetic  out- 
burst found  elsewhere  in  the  Word,  "Behold  and  see  if  there 
be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow"    (Lam.  i:i2).     First 
we  hear  His  cry,  "Hide  not  Thy  face  from  Me  in  the  day 
when  I  am  in  trouble."     Then  He  speaks  of  His  days  being 
consumed ;  His  bones  burned,  His  heart  smitten  and  withered 
like  grass;  Fie  is  alone  in  His  weeping  and  crying.     Then 
again  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  sufferer.    "He  weakened  my 
strength  in  the  way ;  He  shortened  my  days.    I  said  oh  my 
God,  take  me  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my  days     *     *     *." 
The  words  which  follow  are  not  addressed  by  the  agonizing 
sufferer  to  God,  but  God  addresses  them  to  the  sufferer, 
who  is  prostrated  before  Him.    No  one  could  have  ever  had 
this  conception  if  the  Holy  Spirit  had  not  given  us  the  key. 


272 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Hebrews  the  closing  words  of  the 
Psalm  are  quoted  and  there  they  are  given  as  addressed  by 
God  Himself  to  the  Son.  As  in  the  twenty-second  Psalm, 
the  deepest  humiliation  and  then  the  exaltation  of  the  One 
who  suffered  so  we  find  it  in  the  Gethsemane  Psalm.  The 
last  verses  of  the  one  hundred  and  second  Psalm  are  God's 
answer  to  the  One  who  is  bowed  down  in  deepest  sorrow. 

The  other  passage  we  have  in  mind  is  the  familiar  one  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.    "Who  in  the  days  of  His  flesh, 
having  offered  up  both  supplications  and  entreaties  to  Him 
who  was  able  to  save  Him  out  of  death,  with  strong  crying 
and  tears   (and  having  been  heard  because  of  His  piety)  ; 
though  He  were  Son,  He  learned  obedience  from  the  things 
which  He  suffered"  (Heb.  v:y,  8).     There  is  no  doubt  but 
these  words  refer  us  back  to  the  Gethsemane  scene.     The 
supplications  and  entreaties  with   strong  crying  and  tears 
took  place  in  Gethsemane;  yea,  even  more  than  that,  the 
sweat  as  if  it  were  great  drops  of  blood.    But  it  does  not  say 
that  He  was  saved  "from"  death.     It  is  often  assumed  that 
He  cried  to  be  saved  from  death  and  upon  this  some  of  these 
Christ  dishonoring  conceptions  are  formed.    He  cried  to  Him 
who  was  able  to  save  Him  out  of  death.    And  He  was  heard. 
The    answer    came    in    His    resurrection    from    the    dead. 
But  to  return  to  the  scene  in  the  garden.     Where  do  we 
find  His  disciples?    Three  He  had  taken  with  Him  and  told 
them  to  remain  there  and  watch  with  Him.    Soon  they  were 
asleep.     Thev  were  on  the  holy  mountain  with  Him,  eye- 
witnesses of  His  Glory.     And  did  they  sleep  then?     Luke 
ix:32  gives  us  the  answer.     "But  Peter  and  they  that  were 
with  Him  were  heavy  with  sleep ;  and  when  they  were  awake, 
they  saw  His  Glory,  and  the  two  men  that  stood  with  Him." 
This  manifests  what  the  flesh  is,  which  is  fully  exhibited 
in  the  disciples.    Their  Lord  in  tender  love,  appearing  almost 


273 

as  if  He  looked  for  their  sympathy,  had  requested  them  to 
watch  with  Him.  Instead  they  sleep.  How  could  they  have 
looked  into  His  loving  face,  with  the  solemn  feeling  upon 
them  of  great  events  soon  to  come  and  then  going  to  sleep! 
Did  that  show  love  for  Him  ?  And  He  had  spoken  to  them 
about  not  falling  into  temptation.  They  did  not  realize  their 
need  and  their  danger.  And  what  tenderness  and  grace  He 
manifests  toward  His  disciples,  who  had  failed!  Oh  the 
Glory  of  Himself  even  in  that  dark  hour ;  how  it  shines  forth ! 
After  He  had  prayed  the  third  time  He  said  to  them,  "Sleep 
on  now  and  take  your  rest;  behold,  the  hour  is  nigh,  and 
the  Son  of  Man  is  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinners." 
Marvelous  words  of  grace,  calmness  and  dignity.  The 
Shepherd  is  ready  to  give  His  life  for  the  sheep,  that  they 
might  have  life  and  rest.  The  sword  is  soon  to  be  unsheathed 
and  fall  upon  the  Shepherd,  the  man  called  by  God  "my 
fellow"  (Zech.  xiii  17).  The  Lamb  of  God  is  ready  to  take 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  ready  to  go  to  the  slaughter  as 
a  lamb  and  as  a  sheep  dumb  before  her  shearers.  Yea,  the 
Holy  One,  the  adorable,  blessed  One  is  ready  to  be  stricken 
and  smitten  of  God.  What  a  path  was  His!  Humbling 
Himself,  He  became  obedient  even  unto  death,  and  that  the 
death  of  the  cross.  The  last  part  of  that  path  is  now  before 
Him.  What  a  theme  it  is !  What  food  for  our  souls  and 
what  exercise  of  soul  it  brings  to  contemplate  Him  who  for 
the  joy  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross  and  despised  the 
shame. 

What  other  applications  of  this  touching  scene  in  Gethse- 
mane  might  be  made.  How  it  teaches  us  submission  and 
obedience  and  the  highest  prayer,  the  sweetest  prayer  as  well 
to  our  Loving  Father  "Not  my  will  but  thy  will  be  done." 
We  leave  these  meditations  to  our  readers  with  the  prayer 
that  He  Himself  may  speak  to  each  heart.    Oh  Lord,  our 


274 

Lord,  we  cannot  fathom  Thy  Being,  we  cannot  fully  under- 
stand what  Thou  wast,  but  we  know  Thy  love  for  us !  We 
praise  and  adore  Thee.  Make  Thyself  a  greater  reality  to 
our  hearts.    Amen. 

And  what  a  story  it  is  which  we  have  before  us,  the  story 
of  the  passion  of  the  King.  And  who  could  be  able  to  fol- 
low the  Lamb  of  God  and  fathom  the  depths  of  His  sorrow ! 
What  it  must  have  been  for  Him,  the  Holy,  spotless  One, 
to  be  thus  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinners!  Again  we 
say  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  write  an  exposition  of  all 
these  solemn  events  connected  with  the  suffering  and  death 
of  our  Lord.  Much  of  what  might  be  written  by  way  of 
application  we  must  leave  unsaid;  it  would  take  volumes 
to  do  that. 

It  was  while  He  was  still  speaking  to  His  disciples  that 
the  enemies  came  to  take  hold  of  Him,  to  take  the  Beloved 
of  the  Father  captive.  "And  while  He  was  yet  speaking, 
Behold  Judas,  one  of  the  twelve  came,  and  with  him  a  great 
crowd  with  swords  and  sticks"  (verse  47).  It  seems  that 
Judas  made  good  use  of  his  time  since  he  left  the  room 
where  the  feast  was  kept.  The  Lord  had  said  to  him,  know- 
ing the  thoughts  of  his  dark  heart,  "What  thou  doest,  do 
quickly."  Possessed  by  Satan,  he  had  rushed  forth  into  the 
dark  night,  and,  in  feverish  haste,  led  on  by  the  evil  one,  he 
had  succeeded  in  all  his  plans.  The  officers  and  a  detach- 
ment of  Roman  soldiers,  most  likely  several  hundred,  were 
put  at  his  disposal.  These  carried  swords  and  other  weapons, 
besides  lanterns  and  torches.  These  were  Gentiles ;  perhaps 
of  different  countries,  such  which  Rome  had  conquered. 
But  there  were  others,  and  they  carried  sticks.  The  temple 
guard  had  turned  out  in  full  force ;  these  were  the  hirelings 
of  the  chief  priests  and  elders.  The  rabble  of  the  street  no 
doubt  was  also  represented,  for  it  was  a  great  crowd.    What 


275 

a  scene !  Gentiles  and  Jews  come  to  lay  their  hands  on  the 
Prince  of  Life,  the  Lord  of  Glory,  ready  to  commit  the 
greatest  sin.  All  the  sinfulness  of  sin  is  now  to  be  mani- 
fested. But  why  such  a  great  multitude  and  such  precaution 
to  capture  one  man,  who  was  "meek  and  lowly"?  What  a 
testimony  after  all  to  His  power,  which  they  feared  and  yet 
what  blindness. 

Judas  appears  first  on  the  scene.  Behold  Judas !  What 
a  surprise  it  must  have  been  for  the  disciples,  aroused  from 
sleep,  to  find  him  present  who  had  withdrawn  from  them 
under  such  mysterious  circumstances.  From  the  Gospel  of 
Luke  we  learn  that  he  was  not  only  the  leader  of  the  great 
crowd  but  he  walked  ahead  of  them.  What  a  subtle  plan 
he  had  laid,  and  in  it  the  cunning  of  that  same  Serpent 
which  was  in  that  garden,  in  which  the  first  Adam  had  been 
placed.  How  cunning  and  yet  how  blunt.  All  had  been 
arranged  so  as  to  make  His  escape  impossible.  The  traitor 
was  to  kiss  Him  so  that  the  Lord  might  be  known  and  like- 
wise become  detached  from  the  disciples ;  then  they  were  to 
press  at  once  upon  Him  and  capture  Him.  All  was  carefully 
premeditated.  Judas  by  his  action  and  his  plan  shows  that 
he  did  not  believe  in  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of  God ;  he  knew 
His  power.  When  he  walked  before  them  he  may  have 
cunningly  aimed  at'the  hiding  of  his  satanic  deed. 

And  now  he  reaches  the  side  of  Him  whom  he  still  calls 
"Rabbi."  The  first  word  he  utters  was  a  word  of  joy.  "Oh, 
the  joy  !  Rabbi" — thus  it  reads  in  literal  translation.  Then 
he  kissed  Him  eagerly.  The  symbol  of  love,  devotion  and 
faithfulness  so  much  used  in  the  Orient  is  used  by  the  traitor. 
What  must  the  Holy  One  have  suffered,  when  the  one  who 
had  been  in  His  loving  company  came  up  and  had  uttered 
that  word,  "Oh,  the  Joy"?  What  suffering  must  have  passed 
through  that  loving  heart  when  He  felt  the  vile  lips  of  that 
one  upon  His  cheeks ! 


2j6 

And  to  think  that  He  who  rebuked  the  sea  and  it  obeyed 
His  voice,  whose  omnipotent  word  had  healed  the  sick  and 
raised  the  dead,  should  thus  be  delivered  up.  Oh,  what  a 
story  it  is ! 

"But  Jesus  said  to  him,  Friend,  for  what  purpose  art  thou 
come?"  What  calm  and  gentle  answer  to  the  satan-pos- 
sessed  Judas  Iscariot.  Should  not  this  tender  question  have 
touched  the  conscience  of  the  traitor  ?  He  was  beyond  hope. 
It  is  significant  that  the  Lord  addresses  him  with  the  word, 
Friend.  Yet  it  is  a  different  word  which  the  Lord  used  in 
calling  His  disciples  as  recorded  in  John  xv.  The  word  He 
uses  here  signifies  "companion."  Judas  had  been  a  compan- 
ion of  the  Lord,  He  had  beheld  His  mighty  works,  and  had 
by  Him  messianic  power  to  heal  the  sick  conferred  upon  him- 
self. This  is  the  last  word  that  wicked  man  ever  heard  ad- 
dressed to  himself  by  the  Lord.  The  next  time  we  behold 
him  is  when  he  is  filled  with  remorse,  casting  the  pieces  of 
silver  in  the  temple ;  then  he  went  and  hanged  himself. 

And  now  they  laid  hands  upon  the  Lord  and  seized  Him. 
The  rough  hands  of  the  inhuman  Roman  soldiers,  the  cruel 
hands  of  the  hating  Jewish  mob  took  hold  of  that  sinless 
body  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  All  were  energized  by  Satan 
who  stands  behind  all  this  and  that  which  follows ;  it  is  the 
hour  of  darkness  and  the  manifestation  of  the  power  of 
darkness  upon  Him,  the  willing  sacrifice. 

But  far  different  is  the  description  of  His  betrayal  in  the 
Gospel  of  John.  Not  a  word  is  said  in  that  Gospel  of  His 
agony  in  the  garden.  As  Son  of  God,  described  in  the 
fourth  Gospel,  no  such  record  would  be  in  order.  And 
when  they  come  to  take  Him,  He  meets  them  with  a  calm, 
"Whom  seek  ye?"  His  majestic  answer  "I  am,"  makes  the 
whole  multitude  of  Roman  soldiers,  temple  guards  and  the 
mob  fall  down.     "They  went  backward  and  fell  to  the 


27; 

ground."  All  He  needed  to  do  was  to  walk  away  and  dis- 
appear between  the  trees  of  the  garden.  There  is,  of  course, 
no  discrepancy  here.  The  Gospel  of  John  simply  shows 
the  divine  side  of  that  scene.  He  allowed  Himself  bound, 
and  that  with  the  condition  "let  these  go  away."  He  sur- 
renders Himself;  His  own  are  free.  Blessed  hint  of  that 
precious  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 

An  incident  is  connected  with  this  great  event  which  is 
full  of  instruction.  The  hasty  action  of  Peter,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Gospel  of  John,  almost  marred  the  gracious  scene, 
and  only  the  Lord's  hand  could  overrule  the  serious  con- 
sequences of  that  action  and  bring  good  out  of  it.  The 
confusion  of  the  disciples  must  have  been  great  when  their 
beloved  Master  was  taken  captive.  To  see  how  the  meek 
One,  whom  they  had  followed,  at  whose  feet  they  had  sat, 
in  whom  they  believed  as  the  Christ  of  God,  was  taken  by 
these  rough  men,  was  too  much,  for  them.  They  had  be- 
tween themselves  two  swords.  The  words  of  the  Lord  about 
"Selling  his  garment  and  buying  a  sword"  had  been  taken 
literally  by  them.  Simon  Peter  possessed  one  of  these 
swords,  and  had  he  not  said  he  would  be  willing  to  lay  down 
his  life  for  the  Lord?  Now  the  opportunity  had  come  to 
show  his  willingness  to  redeem  his  promise  and  his  loyalty 
to  his  Master.  In  fearful  rashness  he  draws  the  sword  and 
strikes  the  one  next  to  him.  He  strikes  with  the  intent  to 
kill.  The  one  hit  is  the  servant  of  the  High  Priest  by  name 
of  Malchus.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  prevented  the  worst 
and  Peter  only  takes  off  the  ear  of  the  servant.  Surely  it 
was  courage  in  Peter  to  do  this.  To  attack  such  a  large 
body  of  people  was  fearlessness ;  loyalty  to  Christ  was  the 
cause  of  the  action.  And  yet  how  it  belittled  the  Lord !  Did 
He  who  had  said  just  the  word  "I  am"  and  his  enemies  had 
fallen  into  the  dust,  need  such  a  defense?     Did  He  who 


278 

willingly  stretched  out  His  hands,  the  willing  captive,  need 
Peter's  interference  to  make  Him  free?  Upon  the  holy 
mount  Peter  had  quite  lost  sight  of  the  dignity  of  Him 
whom  he  called  Lord  and  classed  Him  with  Moses  and  Elias, 
and  here  he  errs  in  the  same  manner.  The  Lord  has  to  re- 
mind him  of  his  mistake.  "Return  thy  sword  to  its  place; 
for  all  who  take  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword.  Or 
thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  call  upon  my  Father,  and 
He  will  furnish  me  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels? 
How  then  should  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that  thus  it  must 
be?"  (verses  52-54).  If  it  were  a  case  of  self-help  how 
easy  it  would  have  been  for  Him  to  summon  the  angels. 
Peter  stood  in  all  probability  in  the  attitude  of  defiance, 
ready  to  strike  again  if  he  should  be  attacked  in  return.  He 
is  told  to  put  up  the  sword.  Though  loyal  to  the  Lord,  he 
had  dishonored  Him  and  not  manifested  the  graciousness 
and  mind  of  Him,  whom  He  tried  to  defend.  Alas !  how 
many  of  us  have  followed  impulsive  Peter  in  this  action. 
♦  The  Scriptures  had  to  be  fulfilled,  and  from  now  un  we 
see  indeed  the  fulfillment  of  Scripture.  Elsewhere  we  read 
that  the  Lord  touched  the  ear  of  the  wounded  servant  and 
healed  him.  It  was  the  last  miracle  of  healing  the  Lord  per- 
formed before  He  went  to  the  cross,  and  that  was  done  to  an 
enemy.  In  the  tumult  and  confusion  of  the  hour  the  act  of 
Peter  passed  unnoticed. 

"In  that  hour  said  Jesus  to  the  crowds,  Are  ye  come  out 
against  a  robber  with  swords  and  sticks  to  take  me?  I  sat 
daily  with  you  teaching  in  the  temple  and  ye  did  not  seize 
me?  But  all  this  is  come  to  pass  that  the  Scriptures  of 
the  prophets  may  be  fulfilled.  Then  all  the  disciples  left 
Him  and  fled"  (verses  55-56).  The  word  He  had  spoken 
was  now  fulfilled,  "All  ye  shall  be  offended  because  of  Me 
this  night;  for  it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the  Shepherd,  and 


279 

the  sheep  shall  be  scattered."  The  Shepherd  is  left  alone. 
We  pass  over  the  account  found  only  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark 
about  the  young  man  who  followed  clad  in  a  linen  garment. 

Alone  and  forsaken  the  blessed  Lord  is  taken  away  cap- 
tive. What  a  scene  it  must  have  been !  The  fleeing  dis- 
ciples disappearing  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  mob 
leading  Him  hence ;  no  doubt  they  buffeted  Him  with  blas- 
phemous curses  dragging  Him  along  and  so  soon  Gethsem- 
ane,  the  place  of  that  solemn  drama,  is  enshrouded  in  the 
stillness  of  the  night.  But  oh,  what  it  was  that  took  place 
there.  The  mighty  Creator,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Holy  One 
in  His  agony  and  sinful  man  laying  hold  of  the  Lord  of 
Glory ! 

We  will  be  obliged  as  we  pass  on  in  meditating  on  the 
passion  of  our  Saviour  to  confine  ourselves  strictly  to  the 
Gospel,  which  we  study.  We  do  not  write  an  exposition 
of  the  entire  story  of  His  suffering  and  what  was  done 
to  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  but  only  as  the  Holy  Spirit  has  re- 
corded these  events  in  the  first  Gospel.  And  in  doing  this, 
we  shall  point  out  only  the  leading  features. 

First  we  see  Him  before  Caiaphas,  the  high  priest, 
where  the  scribes  and  the  elders  were  assembled.  They 
expected  Him  to  be  brought  in.  What  triumph  must  there 
have  been  upon  their  faces,  when  at  last  in  that  memor- 
able night,  the  One  whom  they  hated  and  despised  was 
brought  securely  bound  into  their  presence,  under  arrest 
in  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles. 

He  must  appear  before  the  ecclesiastical  council  first ;  He 
must  be  tried  there.  But  what  can  they  say  against  Him ' 
What  evil  had  He  done?  They  had  watched  Him  closely. 
Deputations,  one  after  another,  had  tried  to  ensnare  Him 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  as  we  have  seen  in  our  stud)' 
of  this  Gospel,  had  come  to  tempt  Him.     They  found  noth- 


280 

ing  in  Him.  He  had  asked  the  question  in  one  of  His  great 
discourses,  which  they  had  heard.  Which  of  you  convinces 
Me  of  sin?  There  was  no  answer.  He  was  the  sinless 
One,  the  perfect  and  holy  One.  But  it  is  their  hour  and 
the  power  of  darkness.  Thus  we  read:  "And  the  chief 
priests  and  the  elders  and  the  whole  Sanhedrim  sought 
false  witness  against  Jesus,  so  that  they  might  put  Him  to 
death."  But  did  they  succeed?  "And  they  found  none, 
though  many  false  witnesses  came  forward".  They  could 
find  nothing.  Therefore,  He  ought  to  be  freed.  "But  at 
the  last  two  false  witnesses  came  forward  and  said,  He  said 
I  am  able  to  destroy  the  temple  of  God,  and  in  three  days 
build  it."  But  this  was  a  wrong  quotation  of  His  words 
and  a  wrong  application.  Besides  this,  as  we  learn  from  the 
Gospel  of  Mark,  the  witnesses  did  not  agree  amongst  them- 
selves. It  was  impossible  to  convict  Him  on  such  a  charge. 
He  had  not  a  word  to  say.  They  look  upon  Him  with 
their  awful  hatred.  The  high  priest  attempts  to  get  Him 
to  answer.  "Answereth  Thou  nothing?"  "But  Jesus  was 
silent".  It  is  obvious  they  could  not  convict  Him.  The 
charge  against  Him  was  blasphemy.  They  had  miser- 
ably failed  in  proving  anything  whatever  against  the  Lord. 
But  condemned  to  death,  He  must  be.    He  must  die. 

There  remained  just  one  thing  to  be  done,  and  that  was 
to  put  a  question  to  Him  directly,  a  question,  which  He 
could  not  refuse  to  answer.  Why  did  they  not  do  this  at 
once  ?  He  had  first  to  be  shown  as  the  Holy  One,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  without  spot  or  blemish.  The  moment  has  come. 
Most  likely  the  Highpriest  in  his  excitement  had  arisen 
from  his  seat.  The  silent  victim  stands  immediately  before 
Him.  They  are  face  to  face.  The  furious,  heated  face  of 
Caiaphas  looks  into  the  loving  tender  eyes  of  the  Lord. 
Did  this  high  priest  and  his  associates  know  that  this  lowly 


28l 

One,  standing  bound  in  their  presence,  is  the  Son  of  God, 
the  promised  Messiah?  They  knew  that  He  had  given 
the  witness  to  that  effect  throughout  His  public  ministry. 
He  had  not  only  given  the  self-witness,  that  He  and  the 
Father  are  one,  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God,  but  His  works 
had  fully  established  His  Deity.  The  last  question  the  Lord 
put  to  the  Pharisees  concerning  the  Christ,  whose  son  He 
is,  (Chap,  xxii)  had  been  answered  by  Him  in  a  way  they 
all  understood.  There  was  no  doubt,  they  knew  Him,  even 
as  the  Lord  had  said  in  the  parable,  "He  is  the  Heir ;  come 
Jet  us  kill  Him".  The  highpriest  knew  he  would  succeed 
if  he  put  that  question  concerning  His  Sonship  to  Llim. 
But  little  he  knew  what  he  was  doing;  the  blessed  One 
could  not  be  condemned  by  false  witnesses.  His  own  con- 
fession of  who  He  was,  the  confession  of  the  truth  alone 
could  bring  about  His  condemnation.  "And  the  highpriest 
answering  said  to  Him,  I  adjure  Thee  by  the  living  God 
that  Thou  tell  us  if  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 
Jesus  says  to  Him,  Thou  hast  said.  Moreover,  I  say  to  you, 
From  henceforth  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven" 
(Verses  63-64.) 

Under  that  oath  He  could  not  be  silent.  For  this  moment 
He  was  waiting  to  witness  that  good  confession.  He 
confesses  Himself  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  wit- 
nesses to  His  future  Glory  at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and 
His  visible  manifestation  at  the  time  of  His  Coming  again 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  What  a  confirmation  of  the 
fact  that  He  is  the  willing  sacrifice  of  the  Holy  One,  who 
will  drink  that  bitter  cup  and  fulfill  the  Scriptures.  "They 
all  heard  it — and,  as  the  Law  directed  when  blasphemy  was 
spoken,  the  highpriest  rent  both  his  outer  and  inner  gar- 
ment, with  a  rent  that  might  never  be  repaired.     But  his 


282 

object  was  attained.  Christ  would  neither  explain,  modify, 
nor  retract  His  claims.  They  all  had  heard  it.  What  use 
was  there  of  witnesses."  Behold  now  ye  have  heard  the 
blasphemy.  "Then  turning  to  those  assembled,  he  put  to 
them  the  usual  question  which  preceded  the  formal  sen- 
tence of  death.  As  given  in  the  rabbinic  original  it  is: 
"What  think  ye  gentlemen?  And  they  answered,  if  for 
life,  "For  Life."  If  for  death:  "For  death."  But  the 
formal  sentence  of  death,  which  if  it  had  been  a  regular 
meeting  of  the  Sanhedrin,  must  now  have  been  spoken 
by  the  President,  was  not  pronounced."* 

"What  think  ye?"  And  they  answering  said,  He  is  liable 
to  the  penalty  of  death?"  (Verse  66.)  What  a  justice! 
Satanic,  fiendish  injustice  rather.  But  there  He  stands, 
the  silent  Lamb  of  God.  Wliat  a  picture!  Oh  that  we 
might  behold  Him  once  more  as  He  stood  before  this  com- 
pany  of  His  enemies.  What  calmness.  "Majestic  in  His 
silence,  majestic  in  His  speech;  unmoved  by  threats  to 
speak,  unmoved  by  threats  when  He  had  spoken." 

And  now  affecting  the  scene,  which  follows.  Flis  con- 
fession set  the  powers  of  darkness  loose  and  the  unde- 
fending  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  is  tasting  a  little  of  the 
cup  He  had  to  drink.  Oh  to  think  of  it !  They  spit  in  His 
face!  That  face,  which  in  loving  tenderness  had  gazed 
with  compassion  upon  the  multitudes,  yea,  that  face,  the 
image  of  the  invisible  God,  was  covered  with  vile  spittle  of 
men.  How  He  must  have  suffered!  They  buffeted  Him, 
struck  Him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands,  mocked  Him. 
And  not  a  word,  not  a  murmur  came  from  His  blessed 
lips.  "When  reviled.  He  reviled  not  again,  when  suffering, 
He  threatened  not."  And  reader!  it  was  all  for  such  vile 
sinners  as  we  are !  He  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us. 
What  a  Saviour!     How  little  we  think  of  Him;  how  little 


♦Edersheinx 


283 

that  which  He  did  for  us  is  before  our  hearts  and  has  a 
governing  power  over  our  lives.  Oh  Lord !  Thou  art 
worthy  of  all.  And  then  to  think  that  such  a  Saviour  is 
rejected  of  those  for  whom  He  suffered  thus,  dishonored, 
His  mighty  work  denied  among  those  who  profess  His 
name. 

The  last  paragraph  of  this  solemn  chapter  concerns  Peter. 
Peter  had  followed  Him  at  a  distance,  even  to  the  palace 
of  the  highpriest  and  entering  in,  sat  with  the  officers  to 
see  the  end.  Perhaps  when  they  all  had  fled,  he  remem- 
bered his  promise  to  the  Lord  and  so  at  a  distance  he  fol- 
lowed. Far  better  it  would  have  been  for  Peter  if  he  had 
not  followed  at  all.  "Now  Peter  sat  without  in  the  court, 
and  a  maiden  came  unto  him  and  said,  Thou  also  wast  with 
Jesus,  the  Galilean.  But  he  denied  before  them  all,  saying, 
I  know  not  what  thou  sayest.  And  when  he  had  gone  out 
into  the  entrance,  another  saw  him,  and  said  unto  those 
that  were  there,  this  man  also  was  with  Jesus,  the  Nazar- 
ean.  And  again  he  denied  with  an  oath,  I  do  not  know  the 
man.  But  after  a  little  while,  they  that  stood  by  came  and 
said  unto  Peter:  Of  a  truth  thou  art  also  of  them,  for  even 
thy  speech  discovereth  thee.  Then  began  he  to  curse  and  to 
swear,  I  know  not  the  man.  And  immediately  the  cock 
crew.  And  Peter  remembered  the  word  of  Jesus  that  He 
had  spoken,  Before  the  cock  crow,  thou  shalt  deny  me 
thrice.     And  going  out,  he  wept  bitterly"   (verses  69-75). 

Poor  Peter  has  to  learn  the  depths  of  his  own  self.  In 
self  assertion  and  self  confidence,  he  had  boasted  to  lay  his 
life  down  for  the  Lord.  His  Lord  knew  him  ;  he  was  a  true 
believer,  but  did  not  know  the  weakness  of  himself.  That 
weakness  had  to  be  uncovered,  he  had  to  be  sifted  as  the 
Lord  had  told  him.  Far  different  was  the  case  of  Judas. 
He  was  net  a  believer  at  all,  only  a  professing  one,  and  the 
wickedness  of  the  flesh  is  manifested  in  his  case. 


284 

Peter,  as  a  true  believer,  did  not  know  what  the  flesh  was, 
as  alas  so  many  believers  are  ignorant  of  the  true  nature 
of  the  flesh.  There  was  no  willingness  in  Peter  to  sin ;  he 
wanted  to  do  that  which  he  had  told  the  Lord,  but  he  was 
ignorant  of  his  own  weakness.  Step  by  step  he  had  ap- 
proached this  sad  and  sorrowful  moment.  He  did  not 
plunge  suddenly  into  the  out  and  out  denial  of  the  Lord; 
he  never  meant  to  say  what  he  did  say.  Had  any  one 
told  him,  "Peter,  you  are  going  to  curse  and  swear,  declar- 
ing, I  know  not  the  man",  he  would  have  shuddered  in 
horror  and  vowed,  he  could  never  do  such  a  thing.  Grad- 
ually he  had  been  drawn  towards  this  awful  denial. 
"Watch  and  pray"  the  Lord  had  said  "that  ye  enter  not  into 
temptation".  Peter  had  slept;  he  had  neglected  prayer. 
He  could  not  watch  an  hour  with  His  Lord.  Here  the  first 
step  was  made.  Because  he  was  ignorant  of  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  flesh,  that  old  nature,  he  did  not  pray.  If  he 
had  known  what  the  flesh  is  he  would  have  cast  himself 
upon  the  Lord  and  watched  and  prayed.  And  this  is  the 
cause  of  every  denial  of  our  blessed  Lord ;  and  how  numer- 
ous these  are! 

What  sad  repetitions  of  Peter's  fall  in  the  lives  of  God's 
people.  The  absolute  worthlessness  of  the  flesh  is  learned 
and  learned  over  and  over  again  by  many  a  sad  experience. 
The  consciousness  of  our  utter  weakness  in  ourselves  must 
ever  lead  us  into  a  closer  fellowship  in  prayer  with  Himself. 
But  over  this  sad  scene  of  failure  and  denial  was  the 
gracious,  loving  praying  Lord.  Peter  was  His  own;  he 
could  not  go  the  way  Judas  went.  He  had  foreseen  all.  Ere 
it  happened  He  told  Peter  what  he  would  do  and  how  Sa- 
tan's power  linked  with  the  flesh  would  result  in  his  denial. 
But  more  than  that  the  Lord  had  prayed  for  him.  "I  have 
prayed   for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not."     Where  would 


285 

have  Peter  been,  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  prayer  of  the 
Lord.     And  so  His  loving  eye  watched  him,  and  when  the 
sin  was  committed  and  the  right  moment  came,  there  was 
not  a  word  spoken  to  Peter,  but  the  Lord  looked  upon  Peter. 
Their  eyes  met.    That  was  enough.    What  was  in  that  look? 
An  angry  reminder  what  Peter  had  done  ?    A  frown  which 
showed  displeasure?     Far  from  that.     It  must  have  been 
a  tender,  loving,  sad  look.     It  went  home  to  Peter's  heart. 
He  remembers  now.    The  horror  of  his  denial  breaks  upon 
him.      Had  he  not  been  the  Lord's  own,  had  he  not  known 
the   Lord,    Satan   who  had   led   him   gradually   on,   would 
have  rushed  him  into   despair.     But  we  see  him  rushing 
out  and  behold  him  in  the  night,  the  dawning  morning  in 
the  East,  convulsed  with  bitter  weeping.     What  a  weeping 
it  was,  the  tears  of  repentance,  self  judgment  flowed  freely. 
Broken  in  heart  and  broken  in  spirit  with  that  tender  look 
burning  in  his  soul,  he  weeps  and  weeps.     Reader  do  you 
know  anything  of  such  tears?     You  do  if  you  walk  with 
the  Lord.     Another  one  rushes  out  too  when  that  morning 
had    come.      He   went   out   and — hanged    himself.      Satan 
claims  his  own.     Oh  what  a  loving  Saviour  and  Lord  we 
have.    How  He  dealt  with  Peter.     How  He  has  dealt  with 
us  and  still  cares  for  His  own,  prays  for  them  and  keeps 
them  and  restores  them  to  service  as  He  did  with  His  de- 
nying Peter. 


286 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

In  this  great  chapter  we  follow  the  Lamb  of  God  to  the 
cross.  What  a  journey  it  was!  He,  who  had  lived  that 
wonderful  life,  had  healed  the  sick,  commanded  the  demons, 
raised  the  dead,  He,  who  is  announced  in  the  beginning  of 
this  Gospel  to  be  Immanuel,  God  manifested  in  flesh,  the 
Beloved  of  the  Father  is  in  the  hands  of  men,  led  away 
to  the  cross.  What  sufferings  were  His?  Who  is  able 
to  follow  the  depths  of  that  shame,  which  He  despised,  the 
cross  which  He  endured?  But  feebly  we  can  meditate  on 
these  things,  which  He  suffered  in  our  stead. 

The  previous  chapter  closed  with  that  sad  record  of 
Peter's  denial  and  his  bitter  weeping.  The  Lord  had  given 
His  great  confession  before  the  highpriest,  the  confession 
of  truth,  which  resulted  in  His  being  condemned  to  death. 
The  morning  had  come  after  this  eventful  night.*  There 
was  no  sleep  for  many  in  that  night.  The  Son  of  God 
who  had  watched  and  prayed  in  the  garden  saw  no  sleep ; 
dragged  along  He  was  and  reviled  by  sinners.  Peter  saw 
no  sleep;  he  went  out  and  wept.  The  forsaking  disciples 
did  not  sleep;  they  had  fled  terror  stricken.  The  chief 
priests  waked  and  plotted  on  how  to  proceed  against  the 
Holy  One  in  putting  Him  into  the  hands  of  the  Roman 
governor.  Securely  bound  they  led  Him  away  through 
the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  to  hand  Him  over  to  Pontius 
Pilate.      (Verses   1-2.)     What  humiliation  for  Him  to  be 


*We  cannot  enter  here  into  the  chronology  of  that  week  to  correct 
some  of  the  errors  of  the  traditional  view. 


287 

thus  led  away !  What  a  contrast  with  that  which  happened 
a  few  days  before,  when  He  was  welcomed  by  the  mul- 
titudes as  the  King  of  Israel ! 

But  before  we  see  Him  standing  in  the  presence  of  the 
roman  governor,  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  us  the  record  of 
what  became  of  Judas.  "Then  Judas,  who  delivered  Him 
up,  seeing  that  He  had  been  condemned,  filled  with  remorse, 
returned  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and 
the  elders,  saying,  I  have  sinned  in  having  delivered  up 
guiltless  blood"  (verses  3-4).  No  doubt  he  stood  there 
and  witnessed  all  what  was  done  to  the  Lord.  He  too  spent 
a  sleepless  night.  He  saw  the  meek  and  lowly  One,  buffeted 
and  spit  upon.  It  left  him  all  unmoved ;  there  was  no  love 
for  the  Lord  in  that  heart.  Did  he  expect  the  Lord  to 
manifest  that  power  of  which  he,  the  traitor  had  been 
so  often  an  ey2  witness?  Perhaps  this  very  thought  it  was, 
which  Satan,  who  had  entered  into  him  suggested.  His 
love  for  money,  Satan  used  as  bait.  He  may  have  whis- 
pered "You  get  the  money  and  he  will  take  care  of  Himself. 
He  will  not  die  but  get  free."  Thus  Judas  was  deceived 
to  sell  the  Lord.  What  a  sin  covetousness,  the  love  of  mon- 
ey is!  It  is  the  root  of  all  evil;  it  is  idolatry.  And  this 
sin  is  one  of  the  great  sins  of  the  present  day.  Its  worst 
feature  is  that  betrayal  of  the  Lord  and  His  truth,  for  "filthy 
lucre's  sake"  which  goes  on  in  Christendom.  Professed 
teachers,  who  are  described  in  the  Epistle  of  Jude  and  in 
the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter,  who  are  nothing  but  natural 
men,  not  having  the  Spirit,  who  use  great  swelling  words, 
which  the  world  calls  "oratory"  are  betraying  the  Lord 
as  Judas  did.  They  are  rushing  too  in  a  darkness,  just  as 
dense  as  that  into  which  Judas  rushed  that  night.  The 
Word  declares  "to  whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of 
darkness  forever," 


288 

He  goes  to  the  priests,  who  were  just  as  much  under  that 
satanic  power  as  he  was.  He  gives  them  his  confession. 
He  has  betrayed  guiltless  blood.  That  much  at  least  he 
acknowledges.  Then  he  hanged  himself.  This  is  the  way 
Satan  uses  his  victims.  He  deceives ;  he  is  a  master  in 
reasoning  in  a  subtle  way.  He  leads  on  and  on,  deeper  and 
deeper  and  when  the  sin  is  committed  he  leads  into  despair 
and  drags  his  victim  down  with  himself  into  the  place, 
which  is  prepared  for  him  and  his  angels.  Oh,  what  grace 
and  blessing,  to  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness, 
from  that  awful  master.  Judas  after  committing  suicide 
went  to  his  place  (Acts  i  125) .  The  view  given  out  by 
some  teachers  that  Judas  will  come  out  of  his  place,  to 
which  he  departed,  and  that  he  will  be  the  final  Anti-christ, 
the  man  of  sin,  is  highly  fanciful ;  one  does  well  to  beware 
of  such  views. 

The  silver  pieces  he  cast  into  the  temple  and  the  priests, 
as  covetous  as  Judas,  stoop  down  to  pick  them  up. 
That  which  follows  is  only  reported  in  this  Gospel,  in  the 
other  Gospel  records  no  mention  is  made  of  the  fate  of 
Judas.  It  is  put  only  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  on  account 
of  its  dispensational  bearing.  The  priests  judge  very  re- 
ligiously that  it  is  not  lawful  to  put  the  money  into  the 
Corban,  the  treasury  of  the  temple.  They  decide  to  buy 
with  the  pieces  of  silver,  the  field  of  the  potter  for  a  bury- 
ing ground  for  strangers.  This  was  in  partial  fulfillment 
of  what  was  spoken  by  Jeremias.  The  full  prophecy  is 
found  in  Zechariah,  but  the  Spirit  calls  here  attention  to 
what  is  also  spoken  by  Jeremias.  We  read  in  that  book 
(Chapers  xvii  and  xix)  of  a  potter's  field,  which  was  sit- 
uated on  the  side  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  That  valley 
is  also  called  "Tophet",  a  fearful  type  with  its  awful  mem- 
ories of  Gehenna.     Perhaps  there,  Judas  had  ended  his 


289 

earthly  existence,  and  after  hanging  himself  had  fallen 
down,  and  burst  asunder.  This  potter's  field  was  bought 
with  the  blood  money. 

"By  a  fiction  of  law  the  money  was  still  considered  to  be 
Judas',  and  to  have  been  applied  by  him  in  the  purchase 
of  that  potter's  field,  for  the  charitable  purpose  of  burying 
in  it  strangers.  But  from  henceforth  the  name  of  potter's 
field,  became  popularly  changed  into  that  of  "field  of  blood." 
And  yet  it  was  the  act  of  Israel  through  its  leaders.  It  was 
all  theirs,  though  they  would  have  fain  made  it  all  Judas': 
the  valuing,  the  selling  and  the  purchasing.  And  "the  pot- 
ter's field",  the  very  spot  on  which  Jeremiah  had  been  di- 
vinely directed  to  prophecy  against  Jerusalem  and  against 
Israel,  how  was  it  now  all  fulfilled  in  the  light  of  the  com- 
pleted sin  and  apostasy  of  the  people,  as  prophetically  de- 
scribed by  Zechariah !  This  Tophet  of  Jeremiah,  now  that 
they  had  valued  and  sold  at  thirty  shekels  Israel's  Messiah- 
Shepherd — truly  a  Tophet,  and  become  a  field  of  blood! 
Surely  not  an  accidental  coincidence  this,  that  it  should 
be  the  place  of  Jeremiah's  announcement  of  judgment,  not 
accidental,  but  veritably  a  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy.* 

Prophetically  all  is  a  foreshadowing  of  what  was  to  happen 
to  Israel  and  Israel's  land  on  account  of  the  bloodguiltiness, 
which  they  took  upon  themselves.  Israel's  land  becoming 
"a  burying  place  for  strangers"  and  Israel  scattered  among 
the  nations,  finding  their  graves  in  Haqal  Dama,  a  field  of 
blood. 

We  see  Him  now  before  Pilate,  the  Gentile  governor,  where 
He  was  to  be  condemned  to  die ;  the  Jews  had  no  power  and 
right  to  execute  any  one.  First  He  was  condemned  by  the 
Jews  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles,  who  also 
condemned  Him.    The  crowning  sin  of  the  world  was  there- 


*Edersheim  Life  and  Times  of  the  Messiah. 


290 

fore  committed  by  both,  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles.  Israel's 
long  promised  Messiah  and  King  was  delivered  by  His  own 
people  into  the  hands  of  the  Roman  governor,  the  Gentile 
power,  which  was  oppressing  them.  The  charge  which  the 
leaders  of  the  nation  had  brought  against  the  Lord  before 
Pilate  was  the  charge  of  being  a  rebel ;  one  who  made  him- 
self king  in  opposition  to  the  Roman  authority.  An  im- 
mense multitude  of  people  must  have  followed  Him  to  the 
Praetorium.  The  governor  questions  Him  without  delay, 
"Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews?"  The  answer  comes  at 
once  from  his  lips  "Thou  sayest."  How  brief  and  full  of 
dignity !  Then  the  accusation  of  the  chief  priests  and  elders 
began.  One  after  the  other  spoke.  They  accused  Him 
urgently,  we  read  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark.  Perhaps  one  tried 
to  outdo  the  other  in  slandering  Him  and  speaking  malic- 
ious lies  about  Him.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  not  given  us  the 
detailed  accusations  they  brought  against  Him ;  they  all 
were  undoubtedly  of  a  political  nature.  But  there  He  stood, 
the  lamb  of  God  and  opened  not  His  mouth.  How  calm  He 
was  in  that  Babel  of  voices.  There  was  no  need  for  Him  to 
defend  Himself  against  these  unjust  accusations.  And  the 
Gentile  governor,  the  sharp,  worldly,  Roman  politician 
wonders  at  that  strange  behaviour.  Many  a  time  accused 
criminals  had  been  brought  before  him  and  he  had  witnessed 
their  eagerness  in  defending  themselves.  Here  stands  one  in 
his  presence,  who  does  not  open  His  mouth.  Nor  does  He 
say  another  word  to  Pilate  after  he  had  questioned  him,  so 
that  Pilate  wondered  exceedingly.  Such  a  prisoner  had 
never  been  before  him.    He  knew  he  was  guiltless. 

They  had  a  custom,  for  how  long  we  do  not  know,  that  on 
the  feast  the  Roman  governor  would  liberate  a  great  criminal, 
under  condemnation.  As  we  read  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  the 
multitude  began  crying  out  and  to  beg,  that  he  would  do  to 


291 

them  as  he  had  always  done.  One  notable  criminal  was  at 
that  time  in  custody;  his  name  was  Barabbas.  Significant 
name!  Translated  it  means  "the  son  of  the  father."  The 
old  Syriac  version  adds  another  name,  the  very  name  which 
our  Lord  bore  on  the  earth,  the  name  of  Jesus.  "Jesus 
Barabbas" — a  miserable,  satanic  counterfeit  of  the  true  "Son 
of  the  Father."  Who  was  he?  He  was  an  insurgent  and 
had  committed  murder.  May  he  not  have  been  a  false  Mes- 
siah, one  of  these  satanic  instruments,  who  attempted  to 
become  leaders  ?  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  this ;  in  all 
probability  he  was  just  such  a  character. 

"Pilate  said  to  them,  whom  will  ye  that  I  release  to  you, 
Barabbas,  or  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ?  For  he  knew  that 
they  had  delivered  Him  up  through  envy."  What  a  scene ! 
Barabbas  still  in  prison,  the  guilty  one;  and  here  before  a 
great  multitude  of  people,  among  them  the  elders  and  the 
priests,  moving  around  and  whispering  their  satanic  council 
in  the  ears  of  the  people,  there  stands  securely  bound  the 
Holy  One,  the  blessed  Lord,  in  His  solemn  silence.  But 
ere  the  question  is  answered  something  else  happens.  We 
see  a  messenger  coming  in  haste  towards  the  seat  which 
the  governor  occupies.  He  carries  an  important  message, 
which  Pilate  has  to  see  at  once.  The  message  was  from  his 
wife. 

"But,  as  he  was  sitting  on  the  judgment  seat,  his  wife  sent 
to  him,  saying,  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  this  righteous 
man;  for  I  have  suffered  to-day  many  things  in  a  dream, 
because  of  Him"  (verse  19).  It  was  a  solemn  warning  aimed 
at  the  conscience  of  the  superstitious  Roman.  He  knew 
the  victim  was  without  guilt.  God  in  His  mercy  gave  the 
Gentile  a  warning.    He  heeded  it  not. 

The  pause,  which  had  come  in  was  well  used  by  the  chief 
priests  and  the  elders  for  they  went  among  the  multitudes  and 


292 

persuaded  them  that  they  should  beg  for  Barabbas  and  to 
destroy  Jesus.     Fearful  deed  it  was ! 

And  now  he  puts  the  important  question :  "Which  of  the 
two  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  ?"  It  does  not  take  long  to 
bring  forth  the  answer.  Barabbas  is  the  people's  choice. 
Barabbas !  Barabbas !  Not  a  voice  was  heard  for  the  Lord. 
Where  were  now  the  multitudes  who  had  followed  Him? 
Where  they  who  had  cried  "Hosanna"?  If  one  of  them 
was  present  they  kept  silent  for  fear  of  the  wicked  leaders. 
But  Pilate  convinced  of  the  awful  choice,  which  had  been 
made,  against  the  authority  which  he  had,  makes  another 
attempt:  "What  then  shall  I  do  with  Jesus,  who  is  called 
Christ?"  What  a  solemn  question  it  was;  and  it  is  so  still. 
The  question  was  answered  there  and  it  must  also  be  an- 
swered by  every  person  to  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
offered.  He  must  either  be  accepted  as  Saviour  and  Lord 
or  rejected.  The  choice  decides  the  eternal  destiny;  those 
who  accept  Him  and  own  Him  as  their  Saviour  are  saved 
and  all  who  reject  Him  as  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  are 
lost.  Pilate's  second  question  is  answered  by  a  great  cry, 
that  fearful  cry:  "Let  Him  be  crucified."  Again  Pilate 
asks:  "What  evil  then  has  He  done?"  But  his  voice  is 
drowned  in  a  greater  demand  :  "Let  Him  be  crucified."  Pilate 
was  fully  convinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  silent  victim 
before  him,  but  miserable  coward  he  was,  he  would  not  act. 
When  he  saw  he  availed  nothing  and  a  great  tumult  was 
rising,  he  took  water,  washed  his  hands  before  the  crowd 
and  said :  "I  am  guiltless  of  the  blood  of  this  righteous 
one,  see  ye  to  it."  A  Roman  ceremony  this  was  not,  but  we 
think  rather  that  he  borrowed  it  from  the  Jews  themselves. 
Deut.  xxi:6;  2  Sam.  iii:28;  Psal.  xxvi  :6  at  least  refer  to 
what  he  did  here.  Pilate  with  his  "See  ye  to  it"  casts  the 
bloodguiltiness  upon  the  Jews.    The  chief  priests  and  elders 


293 

had  used  almost  the  same  phrase  in  speaking  to  Judas: 
"See  thou  to  it,"  they  had  said.  And  what  did  they  answer 
to  the  governor's  action  and  "see  ye  to  it"  his  word  to  them? 
And  all  the  people  answering  said,  "His  blood  be  on  us  and 
our  children.  Then  he  released  unto  them  Barabbas;  but 
Jesus,  having  scourged  Him,  he  delivered  up  that  He  might 
be  crucified." 

Terrible  answer  it  was.  Barabbas  is  the  nation's  choice 
and  the  blood  of  the  Holy  One  is  wished  by  them  upon  their 
heads  and  the  heads  of  their  children.  Has  that  awful 
wish  been  granted?  Let  the  history  of  the  Jews  answer 
down  to  the  present  day.  How  His  blood  came  upon  them 
and  their  children;  the  end  is  not  yet.  Barabbas  has  been 
their  choice  and  there  is  still  that  false  Christ  to  come, 
who  comes  in  his  own  name  and  whom  they  will  receive. 

Delivered  up  to  be  crucified.  The  Holy  One  is  now  in 
the  hands  of  cruel,  wicked  men  and  all  the  suffering,  shame 
and  cruelty  sinful  man  energized  by  Satan  is  capable  of 
inflicting  was  heaped  upon  the  king,  the  Lord  of  Glory. 
Who  could  describe  that  scene,  which  is  before  us?  Paint- 
ers have  attempted  to  picture  the  terrible  ordeal  on  can- 
vas. Recently  Tissot  has  produced  pictures,  which  the 
world  calls  "realistic"  of  great  artistic  value.  Miserable, 
blasphemous  works  they  are  indeed,  the  imaginations  of 
the  human  mind.  What  was  done  to  Him  and  what  He 
suffered  in  our  stead  no  brush,  no  pen,  no  tongue  can  tell. 
The  hands  tied,  the  back  bent,  the  cruel  scourge  of  cruel 
Rome  fell  upon  the  Son  of  God.  Satanic  hatred  against 
the  Holy  One  supplied  the  strength  to  inflict  that  awful 
punishment,  which  Roman  writers  called  "the  intermediated 
death"  preceding  death  by  crucifixion.  At  last  that  Holy 
body  was  a  mass  of  torn  and  bleeding  flesh. 

Then  the  wicked  Gentile  soldiers  began  their  mockery. 


294 

"Then  the  soldiers  of  the  governor,  having  taken  Jesus 
with  them  to  the  praetorium,  gathered  against  Him  the 
whole  band,  and  having  taken  off  His  garment,  put  on  Him 
a  scarlet  cloak,  and  having  woven  a  crown  of  thorns  they 
put  it  on  His  head ;  and  a  reed  in  His  right  hand ;  and  bow- 
ing the  knee  before  Him,  they  mocked  Him,  saying,  Hail, 
King  of  the  Jews !  And  having  spit  upon  Him,  they  took 
the  reed  and  beat  Him  upon  His  head.  And  when  they  had 
mocked  Him,  they  took  the  cloak  off  Him,  and  put  His  own 
clothes  on  Him,  and  led  Him  away  to  be  crucified"  (verses 
27-30. 

A  whole  cohort  of  rough,  barbaric  soldiers  are  now  tak- 
ing hold  of  the  willing  victim.  After  that  terrible  scourg- 
ing, the  most  awful  indignities  were  heaped  upon  Him.  First 
they  tore  His  clothes  from  His  outraged  body,  most  likely 
in  eager  haste  to  have  their  sport  with  Him.  Then  they 
cast  a  scarlet  cloak  on  Him.  That  garment  was  worn  by 
kings,  and  the  scarlet  color  was  produced  by  the  coccus  cac- 
ti, the  crushed  insect.  Then  they  wove  a  crown  of  thorns 
and  put  it  on  His  blessed  Head.  The  crown  must  have 
been  put  upon  Him  by  these  instruments  of  Satan,  to  in- 
flict pain  and  to  ridicule  Him.  The  crown  of  thorns  also 
points  us  back  to  the  garden  in  which  the  first  man  fell. 
Thorns  became  the  witnesses  of  the  curse,  as  they  are  still 
in  nature.  The  second  Man,  the  Holy  One,  takes  the  curse 
upon  His  own  head.  They  put  a  reed,  a  weak,  perishable 
reed  in  His  hand,  the  hand  which  upholds  all  things,  the 
hand  which  had  been  outstretched  in  blessing  over  the  weak, 
the  erring,  the  sick,  the  blind  and  which  had  touched  the 
leper;  that  mighty  hand  holds  the  reed,  a  scepter  of  mock- 
ery. And  then  the  satanic  drama  of  mockery  and  ridicule 
is  complete.  One  after  the  other,  these  wicked  men  come 
and  bow  the  knee  before  Him,  they  mock  Him.   "Oh  Joy! 


^95 

or,  Rejoice !  King  of  the  Jews."  This  was  their  greeting. 
But  they  get  up  from  their  position  and  spit  upon  Him  and 
take  the  reed  and  beat  Him  on  His  head. 

What  a  scene  for  us  to  contemplate !  Who  can  measure 
its  depths !  The  Son  of  God,  He  who  came  from  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  the  Only  Begotten,  whose  Glory  Isaiah  had 
seen,  insulted,  outraged,  spit  upon  trampled  upon  by  His 
vile  creatures.  And  oh !  reader,  it  was  our  sin  which  did  it. 
How  affecting  to  our  hearts  it  should  be  and  indeed  it  is. 
How  He  did  love  us  to  give  Himself  to  such  shame  and 
suffering. 

In  that  hour  it  was  fulfilled  what  His  Spirit  had  predicted 
of  His  suffering.  "I  gave  my  back  to  the  smiters,  and  my 
cheeks  to  them  that  plucked  off  my  hair ;  I  hid  not  my  face 
from  shame  and  spitting"  (Isaiah  1:6).  And  through  it  all 
He  opened  not  His  mouth.  "He  was  oppressed,  and  He  was 
afflicted,  yet  He  opened  not  His  mouth ;  He  is  brought  as  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers 
is  dumb,  so  He  openeth  not  His  mouth"  (Isaiah  liii:7). 

And  as  we  gaze  upon  this  scene  once  more  we  behold  His 
Glory  as  well.  The  scene  of  His  shame  and  rejection,  of 
mockery  and  suffering  is  prophetic  of  His  exaltation  and 
Glory. 

He  is  the  King  in  Glory;  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  The  royal  garment  is  His.  The  crown  of  thorns 
gives  way  to  the  many  crowns  which  His  brow  will  wear. 
The  scepter  is  His.  Every  knee  must  bow  before  Him  and 
every  tongue  confess  Him  Lord,  to  the  praise  of  God  the 
Father.  The  highest  Glory  He  reached  through  suffering, 
the  crown  through  the  cross,  because  He  loved  such  as  we 
are;  because  God  wants  us  to  be  with  Him  in  all  eternity. 
Oh !  glorious,  blessed  Gospel,  how  sweet  to  our  hearts ! 


2g6 

Thy  holy  head,  once  bound   with  thorns, 
The  crown  of  glory  now  adorns; 

Thy  seat,  the  Father's  throne; 
O  Lord,  e'en  now  we  sing  Thy  praise, 
Ours  the  eternal  song  to  raise — 

Worthy  the  Lord  alone! 

As  Head  for  us  Thou  sittest  there, 
Until  Thy  members  too  shall  share 

In  all  Thou  dost  receive : 
Thy  glory  and  Thy  royal  throne 
Thy  boundless  love  has  made  our  own 

Who  in  Thy  name  believe. 

We  triumph  in  Thy  triumphs,  Lord; 
Thy  joys  our  deepest  joys  afford, 

The  fruit  of  love  divine. 
While  sorrow'ng,  suffering,  toiling  here 
How  does  the  thought  our  spirits  cheer 

The  throne  of  glory's  Thine." 

And  now  they  led  Him  away  that  He  should  be  crucified. 
"Once  more  was  He  unrobed  and  robed.  The  purple  robe 
was  torn  from  His  bleeding  body,  the  crown  of  thorns 
from  His  bleeding  brow.  Arrayed  again  in  His  own,  now 
blood  stained,  garments,  He  was  led  forth  to  execution. 
Only  about  two  hours  and  a  half  had  passed  since  the  time 
that  He  had  first  stood  before  Pilate  (about  half-past  six), 
when  the  melancholy  procession  reached  Golgotha  (at  nine 
A.  M.)."* 

"And  as  they  went  forth  they  found  a  man  of  Cyrene, 
Simon  by  name;  him  they  compelled  to  go  with  them  that 
he  might  bear  His  cross.  And  having  come  to  a  place  called 
Golgotha,  which  means  place  of  a  skull,  they  gave  Him  to 


*Edersheim. 


297 

drink  vinegar  mingled  with  gall;  and  having  lasted  it  He 
would  not  drink"  (verses  32-35). 

Physical  weakness  made  it  necessary  that  one  should 
carry  His  cross.  Was  there  ever  such  a  procession  seen 
before!  The  Lamb  of  God  led  forth  to  suffer  outside  of  the 
camp !  Oh,  the  man  of  sorrows,  how  He  must  have  looked 
when  they  dragged  Him  to  the  place  of  death !  But  though 
He  did  not  carry  the  cross  and  was  weakened,  yet  He  could 
not  succumb  at  this  point.  The  soldiers  had  led  forth,  no 
doubt,  many  a  one  to  a  similar  death.  Perhaps  some  died 
before  the  nails  could  be  driven  through  the  hands  and 
feet.  Did  they  fear  that  this  might  be  the  case  with  Him, 
whom  they  had  maltreated,  dishonored  and  mocked?  Or 
was  it  mercy,  which  offered  Him  vinegar  mingled  with 
gall?  Mercy,  we  believe  it  was  not.  It  was  a  stimulant 
which  they  offered  Him.  They  knew  not  that  the  Life 
which  was  in  their  hands  could  not  succumb;  no  one  could 
take  that  life  from  Him.  He  would  not  drink  what  was 
given  to  Him;  He  did  not  seek  relief,  He  did  not  need  it. 
His  loving  will  was  to  endure  all  the  suffering  in  perfect 
consciousness.  But  there  is  a  prophecy  that  He  should 
drink  vinegar  and  gall  in  His  suffering  (Psalm  lxix). 
When  the  right  moment  had  come  for  the  fulfillment  of 
that  prophecy,  He  said,  that  the  Scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled, "I  thirst."  Then  He  drank.  Before  the  crucifixion 
He  refused  the  vinegar  and  the  gall.  Golgotha,  the  place 
where  they  took  Him,  must  have  been  to  the  north  of 
Jerusalem.  It  was  outside  of  the  gate  near  gardens,  in 
which  were  tombs. 

Here  they  crucified  Him.  No  description  of  the  act  itself 
is  given  in  any  of  the  Gospels.  Crucifixion  was  the  most 
horrible  torturing  mode  of  putting  criminals  to  death;  it 
originated  in  Phoenicia  and  was  adopted  by  the  Roman 


298 

government.  The  Jews  themselves  knew  nothing  of  putting 
transgressors  to  death  by  the  cross.  Inasmuch  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  does  not  describe  the  awful  act,  the  nailing  of  the 
Lord  to  the  cross,  we  shall  not  attempt  it.  Lifted  up,  His 
hands  and  feet  pierced  by  nails,  every  muscle  stretched 
and  life's  blood  pouring  out,  He  hung  on  the  cross,  suffer- 
ing the  unspeakable  tortures  of  such  a  death. 

Prophecy  is  now  being  fulfilled.  All  the  predictions  of 
His  sufferings  come  true.  That  what  was  foreshadowed 
in  the  different  offerings  and  sacrifices,  is  now  beheld  in  its 
deep  and  awful  reality.  The  heavenly  Isaac  is  upon  the 
altar  and  the  hand  of  God  about  to  smite  Him ;  there  is  no 
deliverance  from  the  cup,  He  drinks  it  to  the  last  drop. 

The  xxii  Psalm,  that  great  prophecy  concerning  the  sin- 
bearer,  comes  first  of  all  into  view.  "They  parted  His 
clothes  amongst  themselves,  casting  lots."  This  was  fore- 
told by  David  (Psalm  xxii:i8).  It  is  said  that  the  division 
of  the  garments  of  the  victims  was  a  Roman  custom.  But 
there  is  a  deeper  significance  than  a  mere  fulfillment  of  a 
prophecy.  His  enemies,  those  who  nailed  Him  to  the  cross, 
received  His  clothes.  And  so  for  His  naked  creature  He 
has  provided  the  robe  of  righteousness  by  His  death  on  the 
cross. 

In  the  next  place  the  superscription  is  mentioned.  "And 
they  set  over  His  head  His  accusation  written:  "This  is 
Jesus  the  King  of  the  Jews."  A  board  on  which  the  crime 
of  the  condemned  was  written  was  generally  carried  before 
the  criminal,  who  was  led  forth  to  the  place  of  execution 
through  the  crowded  streets.  This  custom  was  most  likely 
followed  with  our  Lord.  Pilate  himself  had  the  superscrip- 
tion drawn  up  and  it  was  written  in  three  languages :  Latin, 
Greek  and  the  Aramaean  dialect  of  Hebrew.  We  can  not 
follow  here  the  report  of  the  different  Gospel  records  about 


the  writing  above  the  cross.  The  one  here  in  Matthew 
was  undoubtedly  the  Latin  inscription,  while  the  fullest,  as 
reported  by  John  "Jesus  °*  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews" 
was  written  in  Aramean  and  the  one  in  Mark  "The  King  of 
the  Jews"  is  the  Greek  inscription.  Pilate  could  not  help 
himself,  he  had  to  write  as  he  did,  though  he  may  have  had 
the  thought  in  mind  to  avenge  himself  and  to  mock  the 
Jews.  In  spite  of  the  hating  Jews  He  received  His  true 
title  and  that  from  the  Gentile.  There  it  stood  written  and 
could  not  be  changed;  so  it  is  still.  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
the  despised,  the  rejected  One,  is  the  King  of  the  Jews,  one 
of  His  titles;  the  throne  of  His  Father  David  is  His  and 
in  the  wider  sense  He  will  be  the  King  of  kings. 

"Then  are  crucified  with  Him  two  robbers,  one  on  the 
right  hand  and  one  on  the  left."  Another  fulfillment  of 
Scripture.  "He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors" 
(Isaiah  liii:i2). 

"But  the  passers-by  reviled  Him,  shaking  their  heads  and 
saying,  Thou  that  destroyest  the  temple  and  buildest  it  in 
three  days,  save  thyself.  If  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  de- 
scend from  the  cross.  And  in  like  manner  the  chief  priests 
also,  mocking  with  the  scribes  and  the  elders,  said,  He 
saved  others,  Himself  He  cannot  save.  He  is  the  King  of 
Israel ;  let  Him  descend  from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe 
on  Him.  He  trusted  upon  God,  let  Him  save  Him  now  if 
He  will  have  Him.  For  He  said,  I  am  Son  of  God.  And 
the  robbers  also  who  had  been  crucified  with  Him  cast  the 
same  reproaches  on  Him"   (verses  43-44). 

We  behold  still  deeper  sufferings  of  the  Holy  One.  We 
listen  again  to  the  voice  of  prophecy.  "Reproach  hath 
broken  my  heart ;  and  I  am  full  of  heaviness ;  and  I  looked 
for  some  to  take  pity,  but  there  was  none ;  and  for  comfort- 
ers, but  I  found  none"  (Psalm  lxix:2o).    There  is  none  to 


3oo 

pity  in  the  scene  before  us.  He  is  alone  cruelly  mocked  and 
He  must  have  felt  the  reproach  as  only  one  who  is  ab- 
solutely holy  could  have  felt  it.  He  was  reviled  but  He 
reviled  not  again.  Our  Gospel  does  not  report  a  single 
word  coming  from  His  lips.  From  the  Gospel  of  Luke  we 
learn  that  the  first  word  He  had  spoken  after  He  had  been 
lifted  up,  was  that  wonderful  prayer  "Father  forgive  them 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  He  is  silent  to  the  cruel 
and  vile  mockeries,  born  in  the  pit,  the  very  breath  of 
Satan.  The  old  accusation  is  once  more  held  up  against 
Him.  Little  they  knew  that  they  were  fulfilling  that  very 
Word  about  destroying  the  temple  and  that  the  third  day, 
when  He  would  arise  as  the  mighty  victor  was  not  far 
hence. 

But  it  was  not  only  the  rabble  of  the  street,  the  low  down 
element,  the  uncultured  mob  which  mocked  Him,  but 
the  chief  priests,  the  elders  had  gone  out  to  help  in  re- 
proaching Him.  They  had  come  to  deride  Him  in  His 
agony.  What  awful  depravity  this  reveals.  It  is  astonish- 
ing to  see  that  these  cultured  religionists  in  their  fearful 
blindness  quoted  Scripture,  when  they  gazed  upon  Him. 
They  had  said,  "He  is  King  of  Israel ;  let  Him  descend  now 
from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  on  Him."  The  great 
King  of  Israel,  David,  had  written  by  the  Spirit  that  great 
prophetic  psalm  of  the  suffering  One,  the  Twenty-second. 
They  knew  that  Psalm  well.  The  ancient  synagogue  even 
had  given  this  Psalm  a  Messianic  interpretation.  The  suf- 
ferer there  in  that  Psalm  cries  out,  "But  I  am  a  worm  and 
nc  man,  a  reproach  of  men,  and  despised  of  the  people." 
They  gazed  upon  this  great  suffering  One.  "All  they  that 
see  me  laugh  me  to  scorn,  they  shoot  out  the  lip,  they  shake 
the  head."  They  saw  the  laughing  throng,  the  cruelly 
mocking  crowds,  and  they  themselves  joined  in.    But  there 


301 

is  more  than  that.  The  wicked  enemies  of  the  great  suf- 
ferer speak  in  that  Psalm.  The  very  words  they  were  to  utter 
in  the  presence  of  the  forsaken  sufferer,  the  words  with  which 
they  were  to  revile  Him  are  given.  ''He  trustecf  on  the 
Lord  that  He  would  deliver  Him ;  let  Him  deliver  Him, 
seeing  He  delighted  in  Him."  (Verse  8.)  These  very 
words  the  sneering  chief  priests,  elders  and  scribes  uttered 
before  the  cross.  What  awful  blindness  had  come  upon 
them !  But  more  solemn  still  and  full  of  meaning  are  the 
words  they  also  said.  "He  saved  others,  Himself  He  can- 
not save."  How  true,  He  saved  others.  And  what  a  con- 
fession from  their  lips  that  He  did  save  others.  They 
owned  His  divine  power  and  yet  they  rejected  Him.  He 
could  not  save  Himself,  for  He  would  not.  He  had  come 
to  save  others,  and  that  could  only  be  accomplished  by 
taking  the  place  of  those  He  came  to  save.  He  had  to  die 
on  the  cross ;  Himself  He  could  not  save. 

The  robbers,  too,  cast  the  same  reproaches  on  Him.  The 
one,  indeed,  becomes  ere  he  dies  the  mighty  trophy  of  His 
Grace  and  hears  from  the  blessed  Lord  that  marvelous 
word,  "To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  Me  in  Paradise."  As 
this  incident  does  not  belong  into  this  Gospel  we  pass  it  by. 

The  deepest  agony  has  not  yet  been  reached.  Awful  as 
the  physical  and  mental  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God 
must  have  been,  there  was  still  greater  suffering  before  Him, 
a  suffering  before  which  all  the  other  sufferings  pale.  Up 
to  this  point  He  had  suffered  from  wicked  men,  energized 
by  the  devil.  But  now  He  is  approaching  the  moment  when 
He  who  knew  no  sin  is  to  be  made  sin,  when,  instead  of 
suffering  from  men,  He  is  to  suffer  from  God  Himself. 
The  cup  from  which  His  holy  Being  shrank  He  takes  now 
to  drink  to  the  last  drop. 

"Now  from  the  sixth  hour  there  was  darkness  over  the 


302 

whole  land  until  the  ninth  hour;  but  about  the  ninth  hour 
Jesus  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Eli,  Eli,  lama 
sabachthani?  that  is,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou  for- 
saken Me?"   (verses  45-47). 

A  solemn  darkness  settled  over  the  whole  land.  Was  it 
a  darkness  which  covered  the  entire  earth?  Hardly,  for  in 
a  part  of  the  world  it  was  night  and  darkness  was  not  possi- 
ble. No  doubt  the  darkness  covered  the  entire  land  and 
perhaps  the  entire  Roman  world.  It  enshrouded  the  cross 
with  the  great  sufferer  so  that  He  was  no  longer  visible  to 
those  who  kept  guard  and  those  who  looked  on.  That  it  was 
not  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  learned  from  the  fact  that  it 
was  full  moon  at  that  time.  It  was  a  supernatural  dark- 
ness. At  the  termination  of  the  darkness  about  the  ninth 
hour  we  hear  His  voice  out  of  the  darkness.  About  the 
ninth  hour  He  cried,  not  in  feebleness,  but  with  a  loud 
voice,  "Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani?"  But  what  is  the  mean- 
ing of  this  darkness?  It  was  the  outer  sign  of  what  passed 
over  Him,  who  was  then  the  sinner's  substitute  before  a 
holy  and  righteous  God.  God  had  hidden  His  face  from 
Him ;  He  was  forsaken  by  God  Himself.  His  cry  explains 
the  meaning  of  the  darkness,  and  the  darkness  gives  us  the 
meaning  of  His  bitter  cry.  God  had  turned  from  Him,  left 
Him,  who  had  taken  the  sinner's  place.  He  then  bore  our 
sins,  was  made  sin  for  us  and  was  the  offering  for  sin.  But 
who  can  fathom  it?  Who  can  understand  the  deep  mys- 
tery, the  deep  suffering  when  the  holy  and  righteous  God 
dealt  with  sin  in  Him,  who  had  no  sin,  but  who  was  made 
sin? 

"He  was  alone  with  God,  made  sin ;  nothing  to  turn  aside 
the  cup  of  justice;  nothing  to  deaden  it.  The  power  which 
was  in  Him  did  not  shelter  Him;  it  rendered  Him  capable 
of  bearing  that  which  weighed  on  His  soul,  the  feeling  of 


303 

the  horror  of  the  curse  in  the  measure  in  which  the  love  of 
the  Father  was  familiar  to  Him,  the  feeling  of  that  which 
it  was  to  be  made  sin  in  the  measure  of  the  divine  holiness 
which  was  in  Him.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  could  be 
measured.  He  drank  then  the  cup  of  judgment  of  God 
against  sin.  All  forces  Him  to  utter  the  cry,  a  cry  which  we 
are  allowed  to  hear  that  we  might  know  what  passed  there, 
the  reality  of  atonement :  'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  Me?'  It  is  a  forsaking  which  none  can 
fathom,  save  He  who  felt  it."* 

Oh  the  blessed  mystery  of  what  transpired  then 
in  those  three  hours  of  darkness !  It  is  true  we  cannot 
fathom  it.  We  cannot  know  what  it  cost  to  make  reconcilia- 
tion, but  we  know  the  great  work  was  done.  The  just  died 
for  the  unjust  that  He  might  bring  us  to  God.  All  done  for 
us  that  God  might  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him,  who  be- 
lieves in  Jesus.  "And  some  of  those  who  stood  there,  when 
they  heard  it  said,  This  man  calls  for  Elias.  And  imme- 
diately one  of  them  running  and  getting  a  sponge,  having 
filled  it  with  vinegar  and  fixed  it  on  a  reed,  gave  Him  to 
drink.  But  the  rest  said,  Let  be;  let  us  see  if  Elias  comes 
to  save  Him"  (v.  47-50).  Who  were  those  who  said,  This 
man  calls  for  Elias  ?  It  is  generally  assumed  that  they  were 
some  of  the  soldiers.  They  knew  perhaps  little  of  Hebrew, 
it  is  said,  and  mistook  the  word  "Eli"  My  God,  for  Elias. 
But  against  this  it  must  be  said  that  they  equally  knew  little 
or  nothing  of  Elias.  We  think  rather  the  persons  were 
mocking  Jews,  who  understood  the  words  and  made  them 
the  occasion  of  new  mockery.  At  this  time  it  happened  what 
is  more  fully  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  "After  this, 
Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were  now  finished,  that  the 
Scripture  might  be  fulfilled,  says,  I  thirst."    Then  they  gave 


Mohn  N.  Darby. 


304 

Him  to  drink  after  which  He  gave  up  the  spirit.  The  work 
was  done  in  the  three  hours  of  darkness.  After  that  little 
unfulfilled  Scripture  is  fulfilled  at  the  right  time  He  said, 
"It  is  finished." 

But  here  in  our  Gospel  we  read  "And  Jesus  having  cried 
again  with  a  loud  voice  dismissed  His  spirit."  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  twice  we  read  of  His  loud  voice.  There  was  no 
sign  and  evidence  of  exhaustion.  His  life  was  not  taken 
from  Him  but  He  gave  His  life ;  He  laid  it  down  Himself. 
The  King  Himself,  when  the  moment  had  come,  dismissed 
His  spirit.  And  now  we  behold  a  three-fold  result  of  His 
death.  The  veil  in  the  temple  was  rent.  The  earth  was 
shaken,  and  the  tombs  were  opened  and  the  centurion  made 
his  confession  as  well  as  those  who  were  with  him. 

"And  lo,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  two  from  top 
to  the  bottom,  and  the  earth  was  shaken,  and  the  rocks  were 
rent,  and  the  tombs  were  opened ;  and  many  bodies  of  the 
saints  fallen  asleep  arose,  and,  going  out  of  the  tombs  after 
His  resurrection,  entered  into  the  holy  city  and  appeared 
unto  many.  But  the  centurion,  and  they  that  were  with  him 
on  guard  over  Jesus,  seeing  the  earthquake  and  the  things 
that  took  place,  feared  greatly,  saying,  Truly  this  man  was 
Son  of  God"   (verses  51-54). 

The  rent  veil  is  the  first  event  following  the  death  of  the 
Lord.  The  veil  was  the  inner  one  of  the  temple,  dividing 
the  holy  of  holies  from  the  holy  part.  It  was  not  an  earth- 
quake, which  rent  this  heavy  veil,  but  the  power  of  God. 
It  was  done  from  above  and  not  from  below,  "from  top  to 
bottom."  It  must  have  happened  just  about  the  time  when  the 
priests  entered  the  holy  part  at  the  evening  sacrifice.  What 
terror  must  have  seized  these  officiating  priests  when  they 
beheld  that  unseen  hand  throwing  open  the  most  holy  place. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  this  miracle  was  responsible  that 


305 

so  many  priests  became  converted  in  Jerusalem.  For  we 
read  in  the  Book  of  Acts  "and  a  great  company  of  the  priests 
were  obedient  to  the  faith"  (Acts  vi:7).  The  veil  itself  was 
the  sign  that  man  was  barred  from  coming  to  God;  that 
heavy,  solid  veil,  ever  gave  that  testimony  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  man  to  approach  God.  The  rent  veil  shows  that  it 
has  been  made  possible.  The  rent  veil  declares  that  the  great 
sacrifice  on  the  cross  of  the  spotless  Lamb  of  God  has  been 
accepted.  It  is  the  first  great  answer  of  God  to  the  majestic 
word  of  the  dying  Saviour,  "It  is  finished."  It  likewise 
shows  that  the  Jewish  ceremonial  law  is  fulfilled  and  ended. 
Most  beautiful  and  uplifting  is  that  inspired  reference  to  this 
great  event  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  "Having  there- 
fore, brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which  He  has  consecrated 
for  us,  through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say  His  flesh,  and  having 
a  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God.  Let  us  draw  near  with 
a  true  heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies  washed 
with  pure  water.  Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  Hope 
without  wavering;  for  He  is  the  faithful  that  promised" 
(Heb.  x  119-23). 

In  the  next  place  the  earth  was  shaken,  the  rocks  were 
rent,  and  the  tombs  opened.  This  statement  is  peculiar  to 
Matthew ;  we  do  not  find  it  in  the  other  Gospel  records.  The 
death  of  the  King  shook  the  earth  and  rent  the  rocks.  The 
opened  tombs  declared  the  glorious  news,  that  His  death 
hath  broken  th?  bands  of  death  forever;  through  death  He 
destroyed  him,  that  had  the  power  of  death,  the  devil  (Heb. 
11:14).  The  interpretation  that  the  rocks  were  rent  and  the 
graves  opened,  because  the  Lord  in  spirit  descended  into 
hades,  we  reject  as  unscriptural  and  fanciful,  leading  to- 
wards more  serious  errors.  The  Lord  did  not  descend  into 
hades ;  He  went  to  paradise. 


306 

But  besides  this  great  sign,  showing  the  captivity  led  cap- 
tive, the  power  of  death  destroyed  by  His  death,  we  read 
something  else.  "Many  bodies  of  the  saints  fallen  asleep 
arose,  and  going  out  of  the  tombs  after  His  resurrection, 
entered  into  the  holy  city  and  appeared  to  many."  The 
reader  notices  that  the  resurrection  of  the  bodies  of  these 
saints  did  not  take  place  immediately  after  the  Lord  had 
dismissed  His  spirit.  They  came  forth  after  His  resurrec- 
tion. They  could  not  precede  Him.  He  is  the  first  fruits, 
and  these  saints  could  not  rise  till  He  was  risen  on  the  third 
day.  But  why  is  it  mentioned  here  and  not  in  the  next 
chapter  in  connection  with  His  own  resurrection  ?  It  belongs 
there  historically.  It  is* put  here  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  show 
the  effect  of  the  great  work  accomplished  on  the  cross,  the 
efficacy  of  the  death  of  our  Saviour.  Death  is  now  to  be 
swallowed  up  in  victory.  "Where  O  death  is  thy  sting? 
Where  O  death  thy  victory  ?  Now  the  sting  of  death  is  sin, 
and  the  power  of  sin  the  law.  But  thanks  to  God,  who  gives 
us  the  victory  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ( i  Corinth  xv  155- 
57).  By  His  death  the  great  work  of  deliverance  has  been 
accomplished,  and  this  makes  resurrection  possible.  The 
rising  of  the  bodies  of  these  saints  is  a  solemn  and  glorious 
anticipation  of  the  first  resurrection,  soon  to  come.  These 
risen  Saints,  who  came  forth  after  He  had  left  the  grave, 
entered  actually  in  the  holy  city  and  appeared  to  many.  It 
was  another  mighty,  supernatural  witness  of  what  had  been 
wrought.  But  one  might  ask  many  questions  in  connection 
with  this  event.  Who  were  they?  What  became  of  them? 
Where  are  they  now  ?  To  whom  did  they  appear  and  for  what 
purpose?  These  questions  and  similar  ones  are  unanswer- 
able. It  is  useless  to  speculate  about  it.  It  is  well  in  these 
days  to  abide  very  close  to  the  written  Word. 


307 

And  the  third  event,  the  confession  of  the  Saviour  as  Son 
of  God  by  the  centurion  and  the  company  of  soldiers  under 
him.  In  Luke  and  Mark  we  find  the  centurion  mentioned 
alone,  but  here  it  is  the  entire  company.  They  were  Gen- 
tiles, heathen.  The  earthquake,  the  darkness,  the  loud  voice 
which  had  spoken  from  the  cross,  all  had  filled  these  poor 
pagans  with  fear  and  from  their  lips,  gazing  up  to  the  cross 
where  He  had  bowed  His  adorable  head,  came  the  confes- 
sion "Son  of  God."  No  such  word  came  from  Jewish  lips. 
What  a  prophetic  foreshadowing  again.  The  Gentiles  were 
to  believe  on  Him.  That  for  which  they  had  condemned 
them  and  delivered  Him  into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles  is 
confessed  by  those  who  had  put  Him  to  death. 

The  work  was  finished,  and  God  made  it  impossible  that  any 
other  indignities  could  be  put  upon  Him,  whose  body  could 
not  see  corruption.  It  was  customary  to  leave  the  bodies 
of  the  crucified  hanging  on  the  cross,  the  prey  of  wild  birds. 
What  happened  about  the  breaking  of  the  bones  and  the 
spear  thrust  is  not  recorded  in  our  Gospel,  but  is  fully  made 
known  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  We  mention  it,  therefore, 
briefly  without  attempting  an  exposition.  "The  Jews,  there- 
fore, that  the  bodies  might  not  remain  on  the  cross  on  the 
Sabbath,  for  it  was  the  preparation,  for  the  day  of  that  Sab- 
bath was  a  great  day,  demanded  of  Pilate  that  their  legs 
might  be  broken  and  they  taken  away."  Had  they  suc- 
ceeded, instruments  of  Satan  as  they  were,  the  Scriptures 
would  have  been  broken.  But  what  happened?  "The  sol- 
diers, therefore,  came  and  broke  the  legs  of  the  first  and  of 
the  other  that  had  been  crucified  with  Him  ;  but  coming  to 
Jesus,  when  they  saw  that  He  was  already  dead  they  did 
not  break  His  legs,  but  one  of  the  soldiers  pierced  His  side 
with  a  spear  and  immediately  there  came  out  blood  and 
water.    And  he  who  saw  it  bears  witness,  and  his  witness  is 


308 

true,  that  ye  also  may  believe.  For  these  things  took  place 
that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled.  Not  a  bone  of  Him 
shall  be  broken.  And  again  another  Scripture  says,  They 
shall  look  on  Him  whom  they  pierced"   (John  xix  132-37) . 

Then  there  were  many  women  who  witnessed  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  second  man  how  He  bore  the  curse.  They  gazed 
upon  Him  from  afar   (verses  55-56). 

"Now  when  even  was  come  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea,  his 
name  Joseph,  who  also  himself  was  a  disciple  of  Jesus.  He 
going  to  Pilate  begged  the  body  of  Jesus.  Then  Pilate  com- 
manded the  body  to  be  given  up.  And  Joseph  having  got 
the  body,  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  and  laid  it  in 
his  new  tomb  which  he  had  hewn  in  the  rock;  and  having 
rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the  tomb,  went  away. 
But  Mary  of  Magdala  was  there,  and  the  other  Mary,  sit- 
ting opposite  the  sepulchre"  (verses  57-61). 

Who  was  this  Joseph  of  Arimathea?  A  wealthy  man  of 
the  Jews  and  a  secret  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  was 
an  honorable  councillor,  belonging  to  the  Sanhedrim,  who 
also  himself  was  awaiting  the  kingdom  of  God  (Mark  xv : 
43).  He  was  a  good  man  and  just.  When  the  Sanhedrim 
had  come  together  to  condemn  the  Holy  One  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  had  not  assented  to  their  counsel  and  deed  (Luke 
xxiii:5i).  Fear  of  the  Jews  had  kept  his  discipleship  in  the 
background,  but  now  when  the  Lord  had  expired  on  the 
cross,  and  after  the  mighty  events,  which  had  taken  place, 
he  comes  boldly  to  the  front.  His  fear  became  a  holy  bold- 
ness. During  the  earthly  life  of  the  Lord,  though  he  knew 
Him  and  believed  on  Him,  fear  kept  him  back  from  avowing 
openly  his  discipleship ;  but  now  as  His  Lord  had  died  He 
makes  His  great  confession  of  Him  before  the  Jews,  the 
Sanhedrim  and  the  Gentiles  as  well.  He  went  right  to 
Pilate.     This  person  had   the  authority  to   dispose  of  the 


309 

bodies  of  the  crucified.  Generally  they  were,  after  all  dis- 
honor had  been  done  to  them,  thrown  in  the  malefactors' 
graves.  He  then  begged  for  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  Pilate 
consented  readily  and  gave  his  permission.  The  death  of 
Christ  had  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  Roman  gov- 
ernor. That  Jesus  should  have  died  so  soon  was  a  great 
amazement  to  Pilate.  He  called  for  the  centurion  to  get  the 
details  from  him  and  perhaps  that  official  gave  him  his  con- 
viction that  the  crucified  One  was  Son  of  God  (Mark  xv: 
44).  And  now  to  the  astonishment  of  Pilate  the  well  known, 
prominent  and  wealthy  Joseph  comes  and  begs  for  the  body 
to  do  Him  honor.  How  it  must  have  disturbed  the  coward 
and  troubled  his  conscience.  But  another  one  was  there, 
too.  That  One  helped  in  the  hasty  preparation  for  the 
burial.  "And  Xicodemus  also,  who  at  first  came  to  Jesus  by 
night,  came,  bringing  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  a 
hundred  pounds  weight.  They  took,  therefore,  the  body  of 
Jesus  and  bound  it  up  in  linen  with  the  spices,  as  it  is  the 
custom  with  the  Jews  to  prepare  for  burial"  (John  xix:39~ 
40).  Nicodemus  was  a  very  timid  man  by  nature.  How  he 
came  to  the  Lord  by  night  for  fear  of  the  Jews  is  well 
known.  From  His  own  lips  he  heard  the  blessed  truth,  the 
words  of  life.  The  precious  seed  had  been  sown  in  his 
heart.  Did  it  spring  up?  He  also  belonged  to  the  council. 
When  the  officers  returned,  having  been  sent  to  capture  the 
Lord  and  they  gave  their  report,  Nicodemus,  the  great  ac- 
knowledged teacher  in  Israel  ventured  a  weak  defense  of 
the  Lord  (John  vii  150-53).  It  showed  the  seed  working. 
But  the  death  of  Christ  brought  him  and  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  deliverance  from  the  fear  of  men ;  light  and  liberty 
flashed  in  their  souls  as  the  result  of  the  death  of  Christ. 
The  Lord  had  said  to  Nicodemus:  "As  Moses  lifted  m  a 
serpent  in  the  wilderness  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted 


3io 

tip,  that  whosoever  believes  on  Him  should  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life."  He  had  been  lifted  up  and  Nicodemus 
believing,  confessed  Him. 

What  honor  then  was  done  to  the  Lord.  Wrapped  in  a 
clean  linen  sheet,  after  He  had  been  lifted  from  the  cross 
and  then  the  resting  place  for  Him,  who  had  finished  the 
work  the  Father  gave  Him  to  do,  a  new  tomb  hewn  in  the 
rock.  It  was  a  fulfillment  of  Isaiah  liii  :o.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  the  authorized  version  gives  us  such  a  poor  translation 
of  this  verse.  Literally  translated  it  is  "And  men  appointed 
His  grave  with  the  wicked,  but  He  was  with  the  rich  in  His 
death,  because  He  had  done  no  violence,  neither  was  there 
guile  in  His  mouth."  The  authorized  version  "He  made  His 
grave  with  the  wicked"  is  wrong.  The  enemy  would  cast 
His  body  to  the  place  where  the  bodies  of  the  wicked  were 
cast,  but  the  power  of  God  made  that  impossible. 

The  great  stone  is  rolled  to  the  door  of  the  tomb.  Joseph 
and  Nicodemus  depart.  Only  Mary  of  Magdala  and  the 
other  Alary  keep  their  love  watch  opposite  the  sepulchre. 
Thus  closed  the  greatest  day  in  the  history  of  the  world,  the 
day  on  which  the  Prince  of  life,  the  Lord  of  Glory  died  on 
the  cross  of  Golgotha,  when  the  great  work  of  reconciliation 
had  been  accomplished  and  peace  was  made  in  the  blood  of 
His  cross. 

That  which  follows  in  the  chapter  is  peculiar  to  Matthew. 
None  of  the  other  Gospels  have  it.  It  is  indeed  the  proper 
place  for  it. 

'Now  on  the  morrow,  which  is  after  the  preparation,  the 
chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  came  together  to  Pilate, 
saying,  Sir,  we  have  called  to  mind  that  that  deceiver  said 
when  He  was  still  alive,  after  three  days  I  arise.  Command 
therefore  that  the  sepulchre  be  secured  until  the  third  day, 
Jest  His  disciples  should  come  and  steal  Him  away,  and  say 


3ii 

to  the  people  He  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  and  the  last  error 
shall  be  worst  than  the  first.  And  Pilate  said  to  them,  Ye 
have  a  watch ;  go,  secure  it  as  well  as  ye  know  how.  And 
they  went  and  secured  the  sepulchre,  having  sealed  the  stone 
with  the  watch  besides"  (verses  62-66). 

But  little  comment  on  this  striking  incident  is  necessary. 
The  enemy  is  at  work  to  make  all  secure,  but  instead  of  it 
he  only  makes  his  own  defeat  complete,  and  the  wrath  of 
the  enemy  is  made  to  praise  Him.     They  remembered  sud- 
denly the  words  of  the  Lord,  showing  how  they  had  watched 
His  utterances.    The  disciples  to  whom  He  had  said  so  often 
that  He  would  rise  on  the  third  day,  had  forgotten  all  about 
it.     It  did  not  enter  into  their  minds.     This  is  proven  by  the 
way  they  took  the  news  of  His  resurrection.     It  was  a  for- 
getfulness,  no  doubt,  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  in  this 
very  fact  lies  a  strong  argument  for  the  resurrection  of  the 
Lord.     Their  imaginations  could  not  produce,  as  infidelity 
has  claimed,  a  supposed  appearing  of  the  One  who  had  died. 
But  the  enemy  remembered.    Yet  could  they  really  fear  that 
His  disciples  would  steal  His  body  ?    The  disciples  had  been 
scattered  like  sheep.    Poor  Peter,  where  was  he  ?    They  had 
fled.    Would  the  feeble  women  roll  the  stone  away  and  steal 
His  body  ?    Could  they  think  that  fraud  and  deception  might 
be  practiced?     It  was  the  bad  conscience  which  made  them 
fear.     Pilate  made  no  objections;  he  let  them  have  their  de- 
sire.   The  stone  is  sealed,  the  guard  is  placed  there  to  make 
fraud  and  illusion  an  impossibility.     Little  did  they  know 
that  they  were  working  to  make  the   fact  of  the  glorious 
resurrection  of  the  Son  of  God  secure  beyond  controversy. 
They  furnished  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  for  that  event, 
thus  becoming  involuntary  witnesses  of  His  resurrection. 


312 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

We  have  reached  the  last  portion  of  our  Gospel.  The  end 
is  brief  and  very  abrupt.  The  account  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  Lord  as  given  by  Matthew  is  the  briefest  of  all  the 
Gospels.  Only  a  few  of  the  facts  are  mentioned.  Then  the 
characteristic  feature  of  this  last  chapter  is  that  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  ascension  of  the  Lord.  However,  the  fact 
of  His  ascension  is  implied  in  numerous  places  in  the  Gos- 
pel. In  the  Gospel  of  Mark  we  ^ffnd  the  statement  that 
He  was  taken  up  into  heaven  and  sat  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  In  Luke  we  read  that  He  was  "carried 
into  heaven,"  but  in  Matthew  no  such  statement  is  made. 
The  Gospel  ends  as  if  He  were  still  on  the  earth,  all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  in  His  hands  and  with  His  own  to 
the  completion  of  the  age.  All  this  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  scope  of  the  Gospel. 

In  giving  a  brief  exposition  of  this  last  chapter  we  shall 
not  consider  the  different  accounts  of  the  resurrection, 
nor  shall  we  attempt  to  harmonize  the  different  manifesta- 
tions of  the  risen  Christ  or  to  give  the  order  of  these.  All 
this  is  beyond  the  work  we  have  undertaken.  We  confine 
ourselves  to  the  account  as  given  here. 

The  chapter  contains  three  parts.  First,  we  find  a  brief 
account  of  the  resurrection  and  the  manifestation  of  Christ 
to  the  women.  In  the  second  place  we  find  an  account, 
which,  like  the  last  paragraph  of  the  previous  chapter,  is 
peculiar  to  Matthew,  the  lying  report  invented  by  the  Jews. 
Lastly,  we  see  the  disciples  gathered  in  Galilee  and  He  gives 
them  His  great  commission,  declares  His  power  in  heaven 


313 

and  on  earth  and  assures  them  of  His  presence  with  them, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  age.  This  is  the  last  vision  of  the 
King  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew. 

"Now  late  on  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  came  Mary  of  Magdala  and  the  other  Mary 
to  look  at  the  sepulchre."  This  is  the  brief  introduction  to 
the  scene  which  follows.  With  the  many  women  the  two 
Marys  had  looked  on  the  awful  crucifixion  scene.  How 
they  must  have  suffered  in  these  hours  of  the  agony  of  Him 
whom  they  loved.  Then  we  beheld  them  sitting  opposite 
the  sepulchre.  And  now  after  others  had  gone  and  were 
taking  a  physical  rest  they  could  not  stay  away;  they  over- 
came all  fear  and  went  out  to  the  sepulchre  once  more.  The 
wording  of  the  first  verse  is  peculiar.  Another  translation 
reads,  "And  late  in  the  week,  when  it  was  on  the  point  of 
dawning  into  the  first  of  the  week  came  Mary  the  Magda- 
lene and  the  other  Mary  to  view  the  sepulchre."*  Some 
have  thought  of  two  visits  these  women  made,  one  on  the 
evening  and  the  other  in  the  early  morning.  This  is  not 
probable.  The  dawning  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  the 
time  marked  out.  The  first  day  of  the  week  began  after 
sundown  on  the  Sabbath.  It  is  quite  correct  to  translate 
"after  the  Sabbath."     To  this  agree  the  other  records. 

"And  behold  there  was  a  great  earthquake ;  for  an  angel 
of  the  Lord,  descending  out  of  heaven,  came  and  rolled  away 
the  stone  and  sat  upon  it.  And  his  look  was  as  lightning, 
and  his  clothing  white  as  snow.  And  for  fear  of  him  the 
guards  trembled  and  became  as  dead  men"  (verses  2-4). 
The  great  earthquake  was  occasioned  by  the  descending 
angel  and  the  stone,  so  securely  sealed,  was  rolled  away  and 
the  heavenly  messenger  took  his  seat  upon  it.  However,  the 
resurrection  of  the  Lord  did  not  take  place  when  the  earth- 


*Rotherham. 


3*4 

quake  happened  and  when  the  stone  was  rolled  away.  Paint- 
ings often  help  along  this  unscriptural  conception.  No  angel 
was  needed  to  open  the  way  for  Him  from  the  tomb.  God 
raised  Him  from  the  dead  and  He  Himself  arose.  The 
stone  was  rolled  away  to  show  that  the  tomb  was  empty. 
The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead  was  God's 
mighty  and  glorious  seal  upon  the  atoning  work  accom- 
plished on  the  cross.  It  was  God's  answer  to  His  strong 
crying  and  tears  (Heb.  v.y).  The  women  no  doubt  felt  the 
earthquake  and  may  have  seen  that  flash  of  light  from  above. 

We  have  the  effect  of  what  happened  upon  the  soldiers 
first,  in  the  next  place  upon  the  women,  and,  lastly,  upon  the 
Jews.  Three  classes  are  seen  in  connection  with  the  resur- 
rection of  the  Lord  in  Matthew.  The  soldiers  represent  un- 
believing Gentiles,  the  women,  believers  and  then  the  Jews. 
The  solders  are  terror-stricken.  They  were  lying  around  on 
the  ground  as  if  they  were  dead.  It  is  the  effect  upon  the 
natural  man  of  God's  power  made  known.  On  what  greater 
scale  this  will  be  repeated  when  He  comes  again  in  resur- 
rection Glory,  as  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 

The  trembling  soldiers  are  left  for  the  present.  We  shall 
hear  of  them  later.  The  women  are  now  addressed  by  the 
angel.  They,  too,  must  have  made  an  outcry  for  the  angel 
"answered  them." 

"And  the  angel  answering  said  to  the  women,  Fear  not  ye, 
I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus,  the  crucified  One.  He  is  not 
here,  for  He  is  risen  as  He  said.  Come  and  see  the  place 
where  the  Lord  lay.  And  go  quickly  and  say  to  the  disciples 
that  He  is  risen  from  the  dead  ;  and  Behold  He  goes  before 
you  into  G?lilee,  there  shall  ye  see  Him.  Behold  I  have  told 
you." 

What  a  glorious  message  it  was.  The  crucified  One  risen 
from  the  dead!     Mary  of  Magdala  is  in  the  foreground. 


3i$ 

Out  of  her  the  Lord  had  driven  seven  demons.  She  and  the 
other  Mary  take  the  place  of  a  Miriam  and  Deborah  in  the 
Old  Testament.  They  are  to  herald  and  celebrate  the  mighty 
victory  over  sin,  death  and  the  devil  which  had  been  won. 
They  hear  the  good  news  first  and  are  the  publishers  of  the 
same.  As  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  genealogy 
of  the  King,  women  are  prominently  mentioned,  so  in  the 
closing  scenes,  in  the  triumph  of  the  King,  they  have  the 
lead. 

"Fear  not  ye"  is  the  message  of  the  angel  to  the  women. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  good  news  from  the  empty  tomb.  There 
is  no  cause  to  fear,  absolutely  none,  for  those  who  have  be- 
lieved on  the  Lord  and  are  His  own.  All  darkness,  all  un- 
certainty, all  doubt  and  fear  are  at  an  end.  The  whole  sin 
question  has  been  righteously  dealt  with.  The  empty  tomb, 
the  glorious  victory  over  death,  and  the  grave  are  the  ever- 
lasting witnesses.  Gazing  on  this  empty  tomb,  hearing  that 
angelic  message  "He  is  risen"  faith  breaks  forth  in  that  song 
of  triumph,  penned  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Romans  viii. 
"What  shall  we  then  say  to  these  things  ?  If  God  be  for  us, 
who  can  be  against  us?  He  who  spared  not  His  own  Son, 
but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  He  not  also  with 
Him  give  us  all  things?  Who  shall  bring  an  accusation 
against  God's  elect?  It  is  God  who  justifies;  who  is  he  that 
condemns?  It  is  Christ  who  has  died,  but  rather  has  been 
also  raised  up ;  who  is  also  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  who 
also  intercedes  for  us."  God  is  for  us ;  He  gave  His  Son ; 
Christ  died  for  us  and  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead. 
Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  He  was 
buried,  He  was  raised  on  the  third  day  according  to  the 
Scriptures  (i  Corinth.  xv:3~4).  Thanks  be  unto  God  for 
His  blessed  Gospel. 

But  we  must  refrain  from  following  the  blessed  doctrine 


3i6 

of  resurrection.  If  we  were  teaching  this  great  doctrine  we 
would  have  to  follow  the  revelations  as  given  in  the  Epistles. 
This  is  not  our  purpose.  We  are  following  only  a  partial 
historical  account  of  the  event  itself. 

The  angel  directs  the  women  to  bear  the  good  news  to  the 
disciples  and  assures  them  the  risen  One  Himself  would  go 
before  them  to  Galilee,  and  there  the  disciples  would  see 
Him.  This  appointment  was  according  to  His  own  word. 
We  find  it  in  chapter  xxvi  132.  It  is  peculiar  to  Matthew  and 
as  we  shall  see  later  of  no  little  importance. 

"And  going  out  quickly  from  the  tomb  with  fear  and  great 
joy,  they  ran  to  bring  His  disciples  word.  And  as  they  went 
to  bring  His  disciples  word  behold,  also,  Jesus  met  them, 
saying,  Hail !  And  they  coming  up  took  Him  by  the  feet 
and  worshipped  Him.  Then  Jesus  says  to  them,  Fear  not; 
go,  bring  word  to  my  brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee,  and 
there  they  shall  see  Me"  (verses  8-10). 

This  tells  us  that  they  had  entered  into  the  empty  tomb 
and  had  looked  upon  the  place  His  blessed  Body  had  rested. 
They  must  have  trembled  in  great  excitement;  but  greater 
still  was  their  joy.  The  angel's  message  had  at  last  brought 
back  the  remembrance  of  the  words  of  the  Lord  about  His 
resurrection  on  the  third  day.  They  ran,  therefore,  to  bring 
the  news  to  the  disciples.  And  as  they  hastened  on,  eager 
to  carry  out  the  command,  behold  Jesus  met  them  and 
greeted  them  with  the  word  Chaircte  "Oh !  the  Joy"  or  "Re- 
joice!" He  was  full  of  joy  and  graciously  He  revealed 
Himself  to  these  devoted  women.  But  oh,  the  joy !  when  at 
last  His  own  are  all  with  Him.  Worshippingly  they  fall  at 
His  feet,  while  He  Himself  assures  them  "Fear  not!"  and 
repeats  the  message  of  the  angel,  "Bring  word  to  my  breth- 
ren that  they  go  into  Galilee,  and  there  they  shall  see  Me." 

All  this  is  very  tersely  told.    In  the  Gospel  of  John  we  find 


317 

the  fuller  account  of  the  Lord's  manifestation  to  Mary  (John 
xx:ii-i8).     It  is  often  said  by  those  who  do  not  believe  in 
the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  that  there  is  a  discrepancy 
between  Matthew  and  John.     In  Matthew  they  fall  at  His 
feet  and  worship  Him,  but  in  John's  Gospel  the  Lord  says 
to  Mary  ''Touch  me  not."    There  is  no  difficulty  here  at  all. 
She  fell  at  His  feet  and  touched  them,  and  laying  hold  of 
them  the  Lord  uttered  the  words  which  are  found  in  the 
Gospel  of  John.     The  taking  hold  by  the  feet  is  reported  in 
the  Gospel  of   Matthew,   and  the  words   He   spake   in  the 
Gospel  of  John.     This  is  one  of  the  beautiful  evidences  of 
the  divine  authorship  of  the  Gospel  records.     In  our  Gospel 
Christ  is  seen  in  relation  to  Israel.     He  is  the  risen  Messiah 
in  connection  with  His  believing  remnant.     Well  can  she 
claim  Him  and  take  hold  of  His  feet.    As  the  women  fell  at 
His  feet  and  worshipped  Him,  so  His  earthly  people  will  at 
some  day  worship  the  Lord  and  own  Him  as  the  Messiah. 
But  in  John  it  is  the  heavenly  side.     He  is  to  ascend,  to  go 
away,  leaving  the  earth  and  going  on  high ;  His  bodily  pres- 
ence on  the  earth  in  relation  to  Israel  is  not  the  revelation 
found  in  the  fourth  Gospel.     Then  the  Lord  calls  His  own 
"Brethren."     In  the  Gospel  of  John  we  find  the  same  com- 
mand.    Never  before  did  the  Lord  call  His  disciples  "breth- 
ren," but  on  that  glorious  resurrection  morning  He  uses  this 
expression.    It  is  now  fully  manifested  that  "  He  that  sancti- 
fieth  and  they  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one;  therefore  He  is 
not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren"   (Heb.  11:11-12).     The 
word  itself  is  mentioned  in  xxii  Psalm.     "I  will  declare  thy 
name  unto  my  brethren"  (verse  22).    That  Psalm,  contain- 
ing the  great  prophecy  of  the  suffering  and  exaltation  of 
Christ,  is  prominent  in  the  closing  scenes  of  Matthew.     We 
saw  the  fulfillment  of  the  sufferings  on  the  cross  and  here 
the  prediction  which  relates  to  His  resurrection,    The  main 


3i8 

thing,  however,  insisted  upon  in  the  resurrection  account  in 
Matthew  is  Galilee.  The  disciples  are  told  to  go  there ;  there 
the  Lord  will  meet  them  and  send  them  forth  on  their  great 
mission  among  the  nations.  Before  we  behold  them  gathered 
in  the  mountain,  which  the  Lord  had  appointed,  another 
scene  is  introduced. 

"And  as  they  went,  behold  some  of  the  watch  went  into 
the  city,  and  brought  word  to  the  chief  priests  of  all  that 
had  taken  place.  And  having  assembled  with  the  elders, 
and  having  taken  counsel,  they  gave  a  large  sum  of  money 
to  the  soldiers  saying,  Say  that  His  disciples  coming  by 
night  stole  Him  while  we  were  sleeping.  And  if  this  should 
come  to  the  hearing  of  the  governor  we  will  persuade  him 
and  save  you  from  all  anxiety.  And  they  took  the  money, 
and  did  as  they  had  been  taught.  And  this  report  is  current 
among  the  Jews  until  this  day"  (verses  11-15). 

As  previously  stated  this  is  peculiar  to  Matthew  and  the 
continuation  of  the  story  contained  in  the  last  paragraph  of 
chapter  xxvii.  We  learn  that  the  effect  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  Lord  was  a  hardening  one  for  the  Jews.  These 
wicked  men  had  given  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  have  him 
delivered  into  their  hands  and  now  they  are  giving  an  im- 
mense sum  to  circulate  a  lie  about  His  resurrection.  The 
watch  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  their  awful  fright, 
and  some  of  them  hasten  back  to  the  city.  Surely  something 
must  have  happened  or  why  should  they  leave  their  impor- 
tant post  and  return  to  the  city  to  make  a  report?  Then  it 
is  strange  that  they  went  to  the  chief  priests  first  and  not  to 
the  Roman  governor.  This  was  indeed  a  very  irregular  pro- 
ceeding. From  this  fact  we  must  conclude  that  in  the  esti- 
mation of  these  soldiers,  that  which  they  had  to  report,  was 
of  greater  importance  for  the  chief  priests  to  know  than  it 
was  for  Pilate.    Who  knows  but  these  priests  had  instructed 


319 

the  guard,  that  if  something  should  happen  at  the  sepulchre 
and  He  should  come  forth,  that  they  were  to  come  to  them 
first  of  all  ?  This  is  probable.  They  bring  their  report  and 
this  was  nothing  less  but  a  witness  of  the  resurrection  and 
that  the  tomb  is  empty.  The  enemies  were  the  first  wit- 
nesses of  His  triumph.  The  whole  Sanhedrim  was  then 
hastily  summoned  to  receive  the  report  in  an  official  way. 
The  straightforward  statement,  as  men  of  a  military  training 
are  apt  to  report,  made  doubt  about  veracity  impossible. 
The  agitation  of  the  guard,  their  frightened  looks,  the  evi- 
dences that  they  had  passed  through  a  terrible  experience, 
substantiated  the  truth  of  what  they  had  reported.  The 
Sanhedrim  had  nothing  else  left  but  to  accept  the  report. 
To  impeach  these  witnesses,  to  accuse  them  of  falsehoods, 
would  have  been  insane.  There  was  no  doubt  in  their  minds 
that  all  had  really  happened  as  they  reported.  An  earth- 
quake had  taken  place,  an  angel  had  come  down  from 
heaven,  the  stone  was  rolled  away,  the  tomb  was  found 
empty.  What  motives  could  make  these  soldiers  to  rush 
back  to  the  city  ?  Did  they  not  do  it  at  the  risk  of  their  own 
lives?  The  Sanhedrim  was,  therefore,  in  an  awful  predica- 
ment. What  would  happen,  this  must  have  flashed 
through  the  minds  of  these  blinded  men,  if  this  truth  should 
get  out  amiong  the  people?  Perhaps  they  thought  too  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicodemus,  two  of  their  number 
who  had  confessed  Him  by  their  devoted  actions.  Then  they 
had  thought  of  the  possibility  of  something  to  happen  with 
the  sepulchre  and  had  the  guard  placed  there.  And  now  the 
attempt  to  defeat  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  had  miserably 
failed.  He  has  risen  from  the  dead.  His  own  words  came 
true.  The  temple  which  was  destroyed  was  built  again; 
as  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  belly  of  the 
fish,  so  He  was  in  the  heart  of  the  earth.    He  is  risen.    The 


320 

very  guards  they  had  placed  before  the  sepulchre  to  make 
any  deception  impossible  bear  the  witness.  Their  fine  minds, 
some  of  them  legally  trained,  saw  the  hopelessness  of  their 
case.  One  thought  was  written  upon  every  one  of  their  dark 
hearts ;  the  truth  about  the  resurrection  must  be  denied. 
This  again  could  only  be  accomplished  by  inventing  a  lie. 
The  only  possible  lie  was  to  say  that  His  disciples  stole  the 
body.  The  whole  story  they  invented  is,  of  course,  incredi- 
ble. It  is  far  easier  to  believe  He  arose  from  the  dead  than 
to  believe  what  the  Jews  invented  about  His  resurrection. 
If  His  disciples  could  have  stolen  the  body,  if  it  had  been 
possible,  they  surely  would  not  have  done  it.  But  if  they 
had  a  desire  to  steal  the  body,  they  could  not  have  done  so, 
for  with  the  guard  placed  at  the  tomb,  it  was  an  impossibility. 
The  disciples  had  forgotten  all  about  the  resurrection  prom- 
ise; they  were  a  scattered,  poor  and  timid  lot  of  people. 
But  even  if  they  had  been  anxious  to  steal  the  body,  how 
could  they  have  done  it?  Here  was  the  company  of  armed 
men.  They  were  experienced  guards  and  careful  watchers, 
trained  in  that  profession.  Then  there  was  the  sealed,  heavy 
stone.  How  could  they  have  rolled  away  the  stone  and  car- 
ried away  the  body  without  being  detected?  Impossible. 
But  the  utterly  ridiculous  side  of  the  whole  lie  came  out 
with  the  report  which  these  soldiers  were  to  circulate,  being 
well  paid  for  it  by  the  Sanhedrim.  The  disciples  came  and 
stole  the  body,  while  they  were  sleeping !  In  the  first  place, 
it  is  incredible  that  all  these  men  had  fallen  asleep  at  the 
same  time.  All  were  fast  asleep,  so  fast  asleep  that  the  com- 
motion of  rolling  away  the  stone  and  the  carrying  away  of  a 
dead  one  did  not  disturb  them.  Furthermore,  sleeping  at  a 
post  meant  death  for  the  Roman  soldier.  One  might  have 
nodded  and  thus  risked  his  life,  but  that  all  slept  is  an  im- 
possibility.   But  the  report  is  foolish ;  they  were  asleep,  and 


321 

while  they  were  asleep  they  witnessed  how  the  disciples 
stole  the  body  of  Jesus.  How  ridiculous.  The  whole  pro- 
ceedings were  out  and  out  fraud  and  falsehood.  And  this 
was  indeed  the  only  statement  they  could  possibly  bring 
against  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  was 
a  miserable  lie.  And  this  lie  is  continued  to  the  present  day. 
A  small  volume  is  still  circulated  among  the  Jews,  the  "Tole- 
doth  Jesu"  in  which  the  most  blasphemous  things  are  said 
about  our  blessed  Lord,  and  the  lie  about  His  resurrection 
invented  by  the  Sanhedrim  is  likewise  printed.  This  lie  will 
be  upheld  by  the  unbelieving  Jews  till  the  day  comes  when 
He  appears  the  second  time,  and  the  believing  remnant  of 
His  earthly  people  will  cry  out,  ''Thou  art  the  Son  of  God ; 
Thou  art  the  King  of  Israel."  We  might  mention  here  the 
testimony  of  Josephus.  He  says  in  his  antiquities :  "He 
appeared  to  them  alive  on  the  third  day,  as  the  divine 
prophets  had  foretold  these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonder- 
ful things  concerning  Him." 

Indeed  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  His 
physical  resurrection  is  unassailable.  How  wicked  then  to 
deny  it  or  any  part  of  it !  Yet  this  is  of  common  occurrence 
in  these  last  days.* 

And  now  but  a  few  brief  sentences  remain  with  which 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew  closes. 

"But  the  eleven  disciples  went  into  Galilee  to  the  moun- 
tain which  Jesus  had  appointed  them.  And  when  they  saw 
Him  they  worshipped  Him,  but  some  doubted.  And  Jesus 
coming  up  spoke  to  them,  saying,  "All  power  has  been  given 


That  evil  system  known  by  the  name  of  "Millennial  Dawnism," 
or  "Russellism,"  belongs  to  those  movements  which  introduce  dam- 
nable heresies  in  the  last  days  (2  Peter  ii).  "Millennial  Dawnism," 
among  other  things,  denies  the  literal,  physical  resurrection  of  our 
Lord. 


322 

me  in  heaven  and  upon  earth.  Go,  therefore,  and  make  dis- 
ciples of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  enjoined  you. 
And  behold  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,  until  the. completion 
of  the  age"  (verses  16-20). 

What  mountain  it  was  He  had  appointed  as  the  meeting 
place  we  do  not  know.  Some  one  has  said  ''Matthew  is  the 
Gosepl  of  the  Mountain. "t 

From  a  mountain  He  gave  as  King  His  great  proclama- 
tion, the  so-called  sermon  on  the  mount,  in  which  He  pro- 
claimed the  principles  of  His  Kingdom.  On  a  mountain  we 
saw  Him  transfigured,  the  blessed  type  of  His  second  coming 
in  majesty  and  glory  for  the  establishment  of  that  Kingdom. 
On  the  mount  of  Olives  He  took  the  place  as  Son  of  David 
to  ride  down  into  Jerusalem.  From  the  same  mountain  He 
delivered  His  great  prophetic  discourse  concerning  the  future 
of  the  Jews,  the  Christian  profession  and  the  nations.  And 
now  we  see  Him  and  His  own  on  the  Galilean  mountain. 
But  why  is  Galilee  made  so  prominent  in  the  last  chapter  of 
Matthew  ? 

It  is,  indeed,  a  strong  and  important  point  in  this  Gospel. 
Galilee  was  the  place  of  His  rejection.  This  is  evident  in  the 
whole  Gospel  of  Matthew,  which  gives  us  exclusively  His 
Galilean  ministry.  Jerusalem  would  not  have  Him.  It  re- 
jected Him  and  sought  to  kill  Him  through  Herod  in  His 
infancy.  This  is  only  found  in  Matthew.  Therefore,  when 
the  King  began  His  ministry  He  began  it  in  "the  Galilee  of 
the  nations"  (chapter  iv).  The  most  ignorant  Jews  resided 
in  Galilee  and  they  had  become  mixed  with  the  Gentiles.  The 
scribes  despised  Galilee  and  as  we  know  said  "Search  and 
look,  for  out  of  Galilee  ariseth  no  prophet"  (John  vii  152). 


tH.  G.  Weston. 


3^3 

His  first  appearing  there  was  prophetic.  It  was  a  sign  that 
Israel  would  reject  Him  and  that  the  people  sitting  in  dark- 
ness would  behold  the  great  light  and  that  to  them  which  sit 
in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death,  light  would  spring  up 
(chapter  iv:i6).  Jerusalem  did  reject  Him  and,  therefore, 
in  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  the  Kingdom  preached  and 
rejected,  we  see  the  risen  One  passing  by  Jerusalem.  He 
returns  to  the  place  of  His  rejection  and  His  disciples  have 
to  go  there  and  meet  Him  in  Galilee.  Here  on  this  signifi- 
cant ground  He  gives  them  the  great  commission  to  proclaim 
the  kingdom  world-wide,  to  disciple  all  nations  and  to  bap- 
tize them. 

This  is  the  Kingdom  commission.  In  Luke  xxiv  we  have 
the  proper  Christian  mission.  A  time  is  coming  when  this 
great  commission  here  will  be  carried  out  by  a  remnant  of 
Jewish  disciples,  who  are  represented  by  the  eleven.  It  is 
the  same  remnant  as  in  Matthew  xxiv. 

We  desire  to  give  this  fact  in  the  words  of  another,  which 
will  be  helpful.* 

"It  is  well  to  notice  what  has  been  alluded  to : — the  min- 
istry in  the  Acts  is  not  the  accomplishment  of  this  commis- 
sion in  Matthew,  but  of  the  mission  in  Luke,  the  book  itself 
being,  as  is  known,  the  continuation  of  his  Gospel ;  nor  was 
the  ministry  of  Paul,  who  took  up  by  a  separate  divine  mis- 
sion the  evangelization  of  the  nations,  the  carrying  out  of 
this  (the  commission  here  in  Matthew).  His  was  fully  more 
even  yet  a  mission  from  the  ascended  and  glorified  Saviour, 
to  which  was  added  the  ministry  of  the  church.  It  connects 
itself  even  much  more  in  its  first  elements  with  Luke.  The 
ministry  here  established  stands  alone.  The  disciples  are 
not  sent  to  Jews,  as  in  Luke.  But  Jerusalem  is  rejected  and 
the  remnant  is  attached  to  Christ  (His  brethren  and  owned 


'Collected  writings  of  J.  N.  D.,  page  327. 


3^4 

in  this  character)  sent  out  to  Gentiles.  This  as  far  as  Scrip- 
ture teaches  us  has  never  been  fulfilled.  The  course  of 
events  under  the  hand  of  God,  the  disciples  remain  in  Jeru- 
salem. A  new  mission  is  sent  forth  in  the  person  of  Paul 
and  that  connected  with  the  establishment  of  the  church  on 
earth.  The  accomplishment  of  the  commission  here  in 
Matthew  has  been  interrupted,  but  there  is  the  promise  to  be 
with  those  who  went  forth  in  it  to  the  end  of  the  age.  Nor 
do  I  doubt  it  will  be  so.  This  testimony  will  go  forth  to  the 
nations  before  the  Lord  comes.  'The  Brethren'  will  carry 
it  to  warn  the  nations.  The  commission  was  given,  but  we 
find  no  accomplishment  of  it.  It  connects  the  testimony 
with  the  Jewish  remnant  owned  by  a  risen  Lord  of  all,  with 
the  earth  and  His  earthly  directions,  and  for  the  present  it 
has  in  fact  given  place  to  a  heavenly  commission,  and  the 
church  of  God." 

How  wonderful  and  harmonious  is  the  Word  of  God.  If 
anything  else  had  been  put  at  the  close  of  Matthew  it  would 
have  disturbed  and  marred  the  scope  of  the  whole  book. 
Man's  wisdom  could  never  have  produced  such  a  work. 

The  eleven  then  saw  Him  there.  Some  doubted.  How 
this  indeed  carried  conviction  with  it  of  the  truthfulness  of 
the  report.  Most  likely  they  were  taken  by  surprise,  beheld 
Him  from  a  distance ;  soon  all  doubts  vanished,  for  He  came 
up  and  spoke  to  them. 

All  power  is  His ;  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Soon 
the  day  will  come  when  indeed  He  will  have  all  things  put 
under  His  feet.  And  the  last  word,  "And  behold,  I  am  with 
you  all  the  days  until  the  completion  of  the  age."  Precious 
promise  to  faith !  He  will  never  leave  nor  forsake,  and  He 
who  is  with  us  is  the  "I  am,"  the  mighty  Jehovah,  the  Irn- 
manuel,  having  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

The  Gospel  of  Matthew  begins  with  Immanuel,  "God  with 


3^5 

us,"  it  ends  with  Immanuel.  With  Him,  our  Saviour  and 
Lord,  we  shall  be  in  all  eternity.  Forever  with  the  Lord. 
With  all  our  hearts  we  praise  God  for  such  a  Saviour,  for 
such  a  Lord,  for  such  a  Gospel  and  for  such  a  future  with 
HIMSELF,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 

Our  study  is  ended.  We  lay  this  work  at  His  feet,  and  if 
it  pleases  Him  to  use  it  for  the  edification  of  His  people,  for 
the  defence  of  the  faith,  above  all  for  the  PRAISE  AND 
GLORY  OF  HIS  ADORABLE  NAME,  we  shall  praise 
Him  for  it  in  all  eternity,    Amen  and  Amen. 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  I. 


Genesis — 


Exodus — 


Numbers — ■ 


Deuteronomy — 
a 

a 
a 


Chapter.  Page. 

11:8-9   80 

III:— 82,  84 

VI9-17    17 

XV:— 286 

XVIII:—   286 

XIX  \2\  28,  173,  291 

XXXVIII:— 230 

XLIX:io  24 

XLIX:i3 99 

XLIX:2i 99 

IV  :22 . . .  53 

VII :ii    159 

XIX  :5 299 

XXIII  :2o   30 

XXXIV:9    33 

XII  :i3 170 

XXIII  and  XXIV. 42 

XXVIII  :9 241 

VI:i3 85 

VI:i6 84 

VIII  :2  84 

VIII  :3  90,  84 

VIII 115  80 

XXIII -.3 26 


I.  Samuel — 

II.  Kings — 

et 

a 

I.  Chronicles — 

Ezra — 
Job- 
Psalms — 
« 

ft 
<« 
<•< 
ft 
«« 
« 
« 

ft* 
« 
« 

ft 

ft 
ft 

Proverbs — 


u 

Chapter.  Page. 

11:8 27 

XXI  :5  241 

XIX:3-4 221 

1:8 58 

V:i-i5  170 

XXIV:i5 23 

III:i5  23 

III:I7  23 

III:i9 23 

VII :— 22 

I:— 84 

VIII:— 114 

XIX:— 123 

XXII:—  12 

XXIV:— 114 

XXXVII 19-11    118 

LI :— 20 

LXIX7-8 37 

LXIX:29  114 

LXXXVLi  114 

XLI:— 86 

CI:i   24 

CIX:22 114 

CXVIL28 178 

CXIX:89 122 

CXXI:—   9h  84 

CXXX:2    122 

CXXXV:4 299 

CXXXIX:2 184 

VIII :— 228 


Isaiah — 


u 
tt 
it 
tt 
tt 
ft 

IC 

it 

(t 

16 
tt 

it 
it 
tt 
it 
it 
it 
IC 


Jeremiah — 


in 

Chapter.  Page. 

1:5-6 i7i 

11:3 I25 

V  -.2-7 268 

VI:9-io 271 

VII  :i4 35 

IX:—    99 

IX7 31 

X:i2  127 

XXXIII 124 175,  188 

XXXV:—   167 

XXXV:5 167 

XXXV  :6   222 

XL:2   127 

XL:3-5    58 

XLI-.2    114 

XLII:i-4 244 

XLIII:25  187 

L:4    9i 

LI:i   167 

LIII:—  12 

LIII-4  J74 

LV:i-2  297 

LVI:2 '..    n6 

LIX:—   98 

LX:6   5°>  51 

LXIII:9  30 

XVII:9-io 252 

XXII  :30 23 

XXXI  :g 53 

XXXI 115 54 

XXXI  :22 31 


EzEKIEL- 


D'ANIEL 


HOSEA — • 
MlCAH 


Zephaniah— 

(t 

Haggai — 

it 

Malachi — 

iC 

11 
it 

Matthew — 


IV 

Chapter.  Page. 

XXXIV :—.... 201 

XXXVI 125 124 

II  :44 60 

11:48 41 

IV 126 60 

VII  :i4 60 

IX:25 12 

XI:i 53 

VII:— 210 

VII:i-7 117 

VII  :i8 187 

VII  :i9 198 

HI:i2  116 

H.-3 42 

III:i   58 

IV:5 59 

IV:5-6 58 

1:6 24 

1 :8    22 

1:11    23 

I:«7  27 

I:i7   21 

1:18-25 28 


Matthew — 


tt 

it 
a 
tt 

« 


V 

Chapter.  Page. 


II:i-2  39 

11:5  67 

11:13-15 52 

11:22-23   55 

III:i-4 57 

III:ii-i2 7° 

111:13  74 

III:i6-i7 75 

IV  :i    78,  79 

IV:i2 219 

"  IV  -.12-17 98 

«  IV:i7 I0° 

IV:  18-22  IQI 

IV:20 I02 

V:i-i6 IJI 

V:4   x33 

*  V:i3-i6 :I9 

«  V:i7-48 m 

V:20    I3I 

V -.23-24 I27 

V:38 I29 

V-.43-48 :3Q 

VI :i-4 J3! 

"  VI  .4 r35, 

VI:i-i8 in 

VI:5-i5   T3X 

VI:i6-i8 131 

VI:i9-34  IIT 

VI 125-34 I48 

VI -.27-33  149 

VIIa-14  IIT 

VII  :6 J5i 


Matthew- 


vi 
Chapter.  Page. 

VII 7-1  i   154 

VII:i2 155 

VII-.I5 i57 

VII 115-20  in 

VII  :i6-2o  160 

VII:2i-29   in 

VII 124-27   164 

VIII  :i-4   166 

VIII  n-17   169 

VIII 15-13    166 

VIII 114-15    166 

VIII :i5  290 

VIII 116-17   166 

VIII 119-20   175 

VIII 123-27   166 

VIII 123-28   178 

VIII 128-34   166 

VIII  :29 175 

IX:i-8 166 

IX :2-8  ...- 185 

IX  :8 188 

IX  :g   189 

IX  :20-22 167 

IX 120-23 195 

IX 123-26 167 

IX 129-31   167 

1X132-33 ,..  167 

IX  :34 246 

IX 135   201 ,  167 

X: — 61,  210 

Xm-15 208 

X :  1 6-20 208 


Matthew — 


vn 
Chapter.  Page. 

X:i7-i8 210 

X:2i-23 117 

X 124-26 210 

X:34-36 215 

XI 19-12 57 

XI  H5-I9 22J 

XI 123-24 184 

XH:i-8  235 

XII  :io-i3   167 

XII  :i5-i6   244 

XII 117-21   244 

XII 125-26   248 

XII 126 244 

XII 127 248 

XII  :33S4  252 

xn -35-37   254 

XII:3S-4i    255 

XII  :43"45   257 

XIII:—    5,  269 

XIII  :i   218 

XIII 15-9   270 

XIII  :n   260 

XIII 118-19   272 

XIII  :2o-2i    2J3 

XIII  :22 274 

XIII:23 275 

XIII 124-30   275 

XIII 131-32   283 

XIII:33 287 

XIII  :34-35    260 

XIII 136-39   279 

XIII 40-43    280 


Matthew — 


Mark — 


Luke — 


Vlll 

Chapter. 


Page. 


XIII 144-46  294 

XIII 47-50  302 

XIII 151-52 304 

XIII  :54-58 304 

XV:iq 252 

XV 123  198 

XVI :— 263 

XVI  :i2   290 

XVII  .12  59 

XVIII 115-17 279 

XVIII  :i5-i8 151 

XVIII  :i9 135 

XIX  :28 204 

XXI  :32  191 

XXIV:- 15,  157,  303 

XXIV:4-45 15 

XXIV  15-32 210 

XXIVno 117 

XXIV:i5 15 

XXV:— 15 

XXV 138 281 

I:i2 79 

I:i3    80 

11:14-17 190 

III:2i   258 

V:i-7 180 

I:i5-i7 58 

1:28-35    31 

11:32    44 

11:39 47 


Luki 


TOHN — ■ 


IX 

Chapter.  Page. 

11:41-42 .•  48 

111:5-9 62 

111:23  20 

IV  :22 20 

V:i2   171 

V:2i    : l85 

VII 129-30  67 

VIII 130    l8° 

XI:—   155,  l65 

XVI  :i6  225 

XVII  :io   lM 

XXII  :35 • 2o8 

1:12-13   l32 

I:i4    37 

I:23 f 

1:29-34 63 

I:32-34  7l 

III  .13 76 

111:27-36    64 

111:29 . :93 

IV:23 49 

V:_ 186 

V:24 x99 

VI -.42 32 

VII  :27 32 

VIII  :44 85 

X:— x56 

XI  .51    ■ >99 

XII :4a [272 

XIV:— /56 

XV:i6  yiX I9° 


John- 


Acts — 


Roman: 


x 

Chapter. 


Page. 


XV:i8 212 

XVII 124-27 140 

XVII 140  284 

XIX:— 89 

1:5 f 7i 

I'H 135 

II 42  135 

III:i9  66 

IX:32-35   187 

XH:5 135 

XIII:— 7y 

XIX :i3 248 

XV:29-3o 158 

XXII  :i4   136 

XXVIII  :25-28 197 

1:3   77 

III  :2i-26 124 

111:22  74 

VI 13-5  68 

VII  4 121 

VIH:3-4   124 

VIII 7    227 

VIII  :26    142 

X:—  255 

X:8-i2 215 

XI:— 287 

XI 125   300 

XII:i2 135 

XIII:8-io 156 

XIV 13-13    ,,   153 


I.  Corinthians — 


XI 

Chapter.  Page. 

1:26 101 

IV 15 153,  213 

V  :6 290 

V:i2-i3 151 

XIIM3 72 

XIII:— 154 

XIV:33  - 21 

XV:5 205 

XV  :8 205 


II.  CORINTHIANS- 


IIM7 159 

IV:i8 146 

VI  :6 120 

XIU3-15  *59 

XII 7 138 

Galatians —               I  :i 205 

111:24-25 121 

IV  :4 21 

IV  :6 78 

"                          V  :g  290 

V:i5  238 

Ephesians —  I:i8 147 

II:— 183 

"  IV:io-i2  206 

IV:32 144 

V:i    130 

Vlno-13 182 

Phillipians —           II  7 30 

II:io 49 

IV :5 245 

IV  :6 148,  136 


Xll 

Chapter.  Page. 

Colossi  an  s — 

11:8 158 

III  :2-3 146 

IV  :4 136 

II.  Thessalonians — ■ 

I:— 101 

II:— 41 

I.  Timothy — 

IV:i    159 

VI  :i 180 

VI:9-n   146 

VI:i7-i8 146 

VI:2o 158 

II.  Timothy — 

H:24 245 

Titus — ■ 

"                            I:io-ii 159 

Hebrews — 

1:6 21 

II:— 55 

H:i4 95 

III:i2  120 

V7 114 

X  4-7 230 

X:58 88 

XI:3i 26 

XI:35 25 

XIII  :5    146 

James— 

1:2-4  93 

1:5 T54 

II:i9 181 

IV 4 148 


te 


<t 


I.  Peter — 


II.  Peter — 


I.  John- 


Revelation — ■ 


Xlll 

Chapter. 


Page. 


1:2 90 

1^3-5 132 

II:2i  90,  118 

I:i6 14 

II  :i  159 

11:22 154 

H:i3 I32 

III:9-ii  127 

IIIiii   156 

III  115    126 

IV:i-3   159 

IV:i9 156 

V:i6-i7 251 

II:- 285 

111:9 x94 

VI:— 216 

VII :— 282 

XII:- 53,  82 

XIII:— 59 

XIV:6-7 303 

XIV:i4-2o 280 

XVIII  :2 286 

XX  :4 119 

XXI;i2*i4  i  tf<  i  tit  ftf  tt  t  *  f  •  •..  204 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  II. 


Genesis — 


Exodus- 


Numbers — ■ 
Deuteronomy 


Joshua — 

II.  Samuel — 
it 

II  Chronicles- 

(t 

Psalms — 


index  scripture  texts. 

Chapter.  Page. 

XVIII  :25    112 

XXXVIII :— 143 

XIII:9-i6   156 

XXI 132  257 

XXX:ii-i6  75 

XXXIV  :27 26 

V:—  98 

VI:4-8 156 

XVIII:—   164 

XXI  :6 292 

XXIV  :i    99 

XXXII 164 

III:— 266 

111:28    292 

XVIII :  1 8-22 185 

XIX:5-6 64 

XXII : —   2^2,  300 

XXII  :8   300 

XXII :i8   298 


Psalms — 


Isaiah — . 


Jeremiah — 


Lamentations — 

it 

EZEKIEL — 
it 


XV 

Chapter. 


Page. 


XXII  :22  317 

XXVI  :6    292 

XLI;9   257 

L:io-ii    124 

LXIX  :20   299 

LXIX:25 257 

LXXX:8    136 

CII : —  .  . . 272 

CIX:8 257 

CXV,  CXVI,  CXV.II,  CXVIIL.  264 

CXVIII   127 

VI:7 136 

XI:n-i2 213 

XIII:9-io   11 

XXVII 113 212 

L:6   295 

LIII7   215 

LIII:9  3IQ 

LIII:i2 299 

LVI7    130 

LXIII:9 81 

II:2i   136 

XVI:4-i6    213 

XVII  :io   31 

XVII,  XIX :— 288 

XXX:4-9  , 180 

I:i2 271 

XXI  '.27  180 

XXXII 7-8 II 


Daniel — 


Hosea — 


Joel — 


Amos — - 

MlCAH 

Habakkuk- 

11 

Zechariah- 

ii 


XVI 

Chapter.  Page. 

VII:i3    126 

VII:i4 210 

VII:25    197 

IX  124-27    170,  198 

IX 126 201 

IX 127   197,  202 

X7  198 

XI:3i    197 

XII  :i 180 

XII:n    197 

V:i4  180 

V:i5  16 

IIn-17   180 

III: — 244 

III:i5  208 

III:i7  33 

IV  7   180 

VII:i-7  180 

III:i6  180 


11:8 81 

IX:9-io 125 

XI:i2   257 

XII  :io 210 

XIII7    265,  273 

XIV:—  115,  171 

XIV  :2i   , 33 


Malachi — 

it 

Matthew — 


xvu 
Chapter.  pAGE. 

IV:S-6 gg 


II:I"3  • 130 

IV:- 322 

IV:l6   323 

XIV:i-2 6 

XIV:3-i3 8 

XIV:i4-iS    ir 

XIV:i6-i7    I3 

XIV:i6-i9    I4 

XIV:2o-2i    IS 

XIV:22-26    I9 

XIV  -.27  ;  20 

XV:i-2   2S 

XV:3:6   28 

XV:7-u    30 

XV:i2-2o   or 

xvi:i ;;;;;;  38 

XVI:2-4    41 

XVI:S-i2    43 

XVI:i4-iS    44 

XVI:i7-i8    47 

XVI:i9  so 

XVI:l8  53 

XVI:2o-2i    ca 

XVI 122    55 

XVI.-23  56 

xvi  124-25  57 

XVI  .26  58 

xvi  127-28  59 

XVII :i-8    63 

XVH:o   68 


Matthew — 


xvin 
Chapter.  Page. 

XVII:io-i3    69 

XVII:i4-2i    71 

XVII 122-23    j7> 

XVII 124-27    74 

XVIII  :i-5    79 

XVIII 15-9  81 

XVIII  :io   82 

XVIII  ni-14    84 

XVIII 115 86 

XVIII  :i6 87 

XVIII :  1 7-20  90 

XVIII  :2i-22   91 

XVIII 123-35  93 

XIX:i-3 96 

XIX4-7 98 

XIX:8-i2    99 

XIX  :i3   101 

XIX 114  102 

XIX  115-23 104 

XIX  124-26 106 

XIX  128-30 107 

XX:i-i6   no 

XX:i2-i9   113 

XX  120-21    114 

XX 122-24   115 

XX 125-28   118 

XX:29-34   119 

XXI:i-5 124 

XXI  7-13 129 

XXI:i4-i6 131 

XXI 117-22 132 

XXI  :23  133 


Matthew — 

a 


XIX 

Chapter.  Page. 

XXI 124-26 134 

XXI 127-42 137 

XXI 143-44 138 

XXII:—  2gi 

XXII:i-i4 I4I 

XXII  :i5   145 

XXII:i6-22 146 

XXII 123-29 148 

XXII 130-32  .; 150 

XXII 133-46 151 

XXIII:i-i2   154 

XXIII:i3 I59 

XXIII14-15  160 

XXIII:i5-33    l6i 

XXIV : —    -22^ 

XXIVn-44 172 

XXIV  :3    175 

XXIV:4-i4   178 

XXIV:i4    187 

XXIV:i5-22 196 

XXIV:23-27 205 

XXIV  :28 206 

XXIV 129-31 207 

XXIV:32-33 213 

XXIV  :34-35    214 

XXIV  :37 215 

XXIV:37-42   216 

XXIV  43-44 217 

XXIV  45-51    220 

XXV:i-i3   225 

XXV:  14-30 237 

XXV:3i-46  240 


Matthew — 


Chapter.  Page. 

XXVI  :i-5   251 

XXVI:6-i3 252 

XXVIH4-16   256 

XXVI 117-25    258 

XXVI 126-30   261 

XXVI:3i-35    265 

XXVI  :32  316 

XXVI 136-46   267 

XXVI:—    274 

XXVI 152-54   278 

XXVI 155-56   278 

XXVI 163-64   281 

XXVI  :66 282 

XXVI 169-75    283 

XXVII:—  318 

XXVII  :i-2 286 

XXVII  :3-4 287 

XXVII 127-31 294 

XXVII:32-35 297 

XXVII 143-44 299 

XXVII  45-47 302 

XXVII  47-50 303 

XXVII:5i-54 304 

XXVII 155-56 308 

XXVII  :57-6i  308 

XXVII -62-66 311 

XXVIII:—   312 

XXVIII  :2-4 313 

XXVIII  :8-io 316 

XXVIII  :n-i5  318 

XXVIII :i6:2o 322 


XXI 

Chapter. 


Page. 


Mark — 


a 
tt 

Luke — 

et 

tt 

a 
it 
U 
a 
tc 
it 


John — 

u 
it 
(t 
it 
it 
tt 
tt 
it 
it 
tt 
tt 
tt 
tt 


IV 132   114 

IV:io   68 

XI 14-7 124 

XII 134 150 

XX:i3 102 

XV:43  3o8 

XV  44 309 

IX:32   63 

IX:46   79 

XIII:— 132 

XVI  :8  215 

XVI 131 41 

XVIII 115 102 

XXI 120-23 ..-.  168 

XXII 17   258 

XXIII 151    308 

XXIV:— 323 

11:13-19   129 

VI 15-9 J3 

VI:i5 15 

VI:20 16 

VI  :64 257 

VII:5o-53   309 

VII 152    . 322 

X 117-18 269 

XI:— 253 

XI:s-6 255 

XII  :io 128 

XII:24-26  57 

XIII  :ii  257 


John — 


Acts — 
a 

a 

it 

it 

tt 

tt 

a 


Romans — 


I.  Corinthians — ■ 


II.  Corinthians — 
it 

Galatians— 

a 


XX11 

Chapter.  Page. 

XIII  .27 259 

XIII 136 266 

XIX:32-37   308 

XIX 139-40   309 

XX:ii-i8  317 

1:6-7 181 

1:25 288 

III:i 189 

III  119-20 142,  164,  189 

IV:n 137 

VI  .7 305 

VII  :37 164 

X:— 52 

XII:— 6 

XVI 31 102 

XX  7 263 

1:4  46 

XI:— , 192 

XII  a 63 

VI  :2  241 

VII  :28-32  100 

XI 123-26 263 

XV:3-4 315 

XV 127-28 112 

XV:55-57 306 

III:i8 63 

IV:i S6 


XX111 

Chapter. 


Page. 


Ephesians — 
tt 


Philippians — ■ 


COLOSSIANS 


11:20 138 

IV 132 92 

V 122-32 98,  103 

VI:i-4 103 

II:9-ii    260 

III:i6  116 

IV:8-9 57 


1:6... 

1:24  • 
III:i3 


77 

116 

92 


I.  Thessalonians — 


II.  Thessalonians- 


Hebrew: 


IV:i3-i8  65,  175 

IV:i5   243 

IV  -.16-17    184,  191 

I:i-8  211 

II:— 186,  257 

11:3-4   130,  204 

II:io-i2    195 

I :— 272 

1:3 77 

I:i4 83 

I:i6 211 

II.:ii-i2 3T7 

II:i4    305 

111:5-6    164 

V7-8 272,  314 

X:5-7    54 

X:i9-23  305 

XII:9-io  8l 


James — 
I.  Peter — 


II.  Peter — 
<< 

a 
it 

JUDE— 

Revelation- 


XXIV 

Chapter.  Page. 

IV:4   9 

I:n 114 

I:2i    58 

II 4-6 50 

II 7    138 

II:2i    116 

1: 16-20    61 

II    45.  321 

H:i    .- 185 

13   " 260 

In    211 

II 126-28 108 

II  :III   5,  181 

VI:—    181 

VI:5-6 184 

VI 19-1 1  184 

VI 112-17 185 

VI:XIX  177,  182 

VII   171,  194 

XIII   203,  204 

XIII:i2-28  204 

XVIII  :24    9 

XIX 126 

XIX:ii-i6    211 

XX:4-5   243 

XX  :io 249 

XXII  :i5    242 


